This is “as good a performance and interpretation—and technical recording—of Also sprach Zarathustra as one would expect to find” (Gramophone). Inspired and inspiring, Richard Strauss’s Also sprach Zarathustra is one of a series of tone poems which pushed the form to its limits. The famous opening introduces a musical interpretation of Friedrich Nietzsche’s philosophical treatise, taking Zarathustra on a complex search through human aspirations. Based on an incident in Strauss’s own life, the suite from Intermezzo distills domestic strife and misunderstanding into four jocular vignettes.