Herbert von Karajan is acknowledged as one of the foremost interpreters of the music of Richard Strauss. On 22nd January 1929, in his first professional performance as a conductor, he included the tone poem "Don Juan", a piece which was to remain a life-long favourite. In fact, Karajan's relationship with Strauss's music spans his entire career.

In addition to regularly conducting the well known orchestral works he championed both "Sinfonia domestica" (describing it as "one of Strauss's finest works") and "Eine Alpensinfonie" when both were little performed or recognised. With "Eine Alpensinfonie" Karajan lifts the work to a higher level of interpretation seeing the tone poem as an epic hymn to the power of nature. To see how important this music was to him, one only has to watch the film of the 1983 All Souls' Day performance.

In the field of opera Karajan performed or recorded most of Strauss's works but it is with "Der Rosenkavalier" that he is particularly associated. The 1956 recording stands out as one of the finest opera recordings ever made and when the Salzburg Grosses Festspielhaus opened on 26th July 1960 it was with a performance of "Der Rosenkavalier". Of his 1984 production with Anna Tomowa-Sintow and Agnes Baltsa the orchestral contribution astonished many people:

"......he seemed to stop conducting, because he had created a single deep line,
a unity with his players and performers, which took music-making
beyond anything I had ever heard.....
Karajan was hardly moving yet he was absolutely in control.
He completely trusted his performers, and they trusted him.
They were, I think, the last Rosenkavaliers he conducted before his death.
I know I was very lucky to be there."
Seiji Ozawa quoted in the "Sunday Telegraph: A Night to Remember" 22nd September 1991