Don Quixote as a hero, a madman, an adventurer who has captivated so many of us, is here a dazzling conjunction of Strauss’s symphonic poems, which were envisioned by the composer at the same time and complementarily. Don Quixote presents the noble gentleman by means of the cello (and his loyal squire, Sancho Panza, through the viola), while A Hero’s Life is about heroism in itself…or perhaps Strauss’s.