Unopened/new vinyl, factory sealed, and in excellent condition. Two small areas on front where shrink has come off: near top right and near bottom left. Small divot on top edge where shrink has come off and bottom left has some wear, especially to corner. Bottom corners show mild wear. Label design can't be confirmed because it's sealed. (Not a cut-out.)
"When Ein Heldenleben reached the American shores...the Boston Herald wrote on December 8, 1901 'At the end of the forty minutes exacted by the performance of Richard Strauss' latest tone poem, one is inclined to pull himself together and be thankful to the friend who will assure him of his continued sanity...Boston always has on hand and in reserve a fad or a cult of the incomprehensible. These times now seem remote and incomprehensible in their turn. The critics of Strauss have since gone through the Purgatory of Stravinsky and Schoenberg, and are only too willing to accept Strauss as a romantic composer. As to the modern school of composition, Stauss has no followers. He remains the last of the Mohicans, a living example of a great school of panoramic sound-painting." (liner notes)