Description
The history of today's Badische Staatskapelle begins with a list of the expenses of the court of the Margraves of Baden-Durlach. In 1662, the court musicians are mentioned for the first time, but the exact founding date of the court orchestra is unknown. There must have been musical performances at court before that, but obviously no permanent ensemble. At that time, the residence of the Margraviate was Karlsburg Castle in Durlach; the city of Karlsruhe did not even exist yet.
This first court orchestra was small. It consisted of five musicians, only three of whom were fully paid. There was also a group of court trumpeters and a military timpanist. Three and a half centuries later, the small beginnings have become a renowned orchestra consisting of over 90 musicians and has been led by Georg Fritzsch as General Music Director since 2020. A current CD edition shows the abilities of the orchestra, especially in the design of the late Romantic repertoire, which has been intensively cultivated since Hermann Levi's tenure in Karlsruhe.
Part 1 of the edition contains Richard Strauss's "Alpine Symphony", one of the central symphonic works of the early 20th century. Although it has often been accused of being mere sound cinema, film music without film, superficial tone painting without real symphonic depth, it was more than its critics were willing to give it credit for from the very beginning of the first, very different work concepts. The Alps as a subject and its musical implementation formed part of a larger structure of ideas. The poetic idea of the work also creates its own form, just as Strauss described it as his ideal.
