This special recording of the Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart under Georges Prêtre comprises two symphonic poems by Richard Strauss and his Rosenkavalier-Suite Op. 59. Richard Strauss was a pioneer in the genre of the tone poem. The tone poems that he wrote are still considered to be the high point of program music. He extended the boundaries of program music and took the concept of realism in music to an unprecedented level. He widened the expressive range of music, while depicting subjects many times thought unsuitable for musical depiction. French conductor Georges Pretre made his Paris debut at the Opera-Comique conducting the work of Richard Strauss, no doubt creating a special place in Pretre's heart for Strauss's music. This album is part of a new re-release series (Century Classics) consisting of SWR music bestsellers. The series is competitively priced, optically highly attractive and contains acclaimed SWR recordings mostly of the SWR orchestras and their chief conductors.