Strauss, R.: Aus Italien / Die Liebe Der Danae

Description

Richard Strauss (1864 -1949) Aus Italien, Op. 16 DieLiebe der Danae (Symphonic fragment) Waltz-SequenceNo.2 from Der Rosenkavalier TheGerman composer and conductor Richard Strauss represents a remarkable extension of thework of Liszt and Wagner, of the former in the symphonic poems of his earlier career andof the latter in his operas, where he uses an orchestra of Wagnerian proportions in aframework that owes more to Mozart. Born in Munich, the son of a distinguished horn-playerand his second wife, a member of a rich brewing family, Strauss enjoyed a good generaleducation at the Ludwigsgymnasium in Munich, while pursuing musical studies with the helpof distinguished colleagues of his father. Before he left school in 1882 he had alreadyenjoyed some success as a composer , continuing during his brief period at MunichUniversity, with the composition of a violin concerto, a horn concerto and a cello sonata.By the age of 21 he had been appointed assistant conductor to the well known orchestra atMeiningen under Hans von B??low, whom he succeeded in the same year.In1886 Strauss resigned from Meiningen and began the series of tone-poems that seemed toextend to the utmost limit the extra-musical content of the form. The symphonic fantasyAus Italien in 1886 was followed by Macbeth, Don Juan, Death and Transfiguration, and,after a gap of a few years, Till Eulenspiegel, Alsosprach Zarathustra, Don Ouixote and EinHeldenleben. Meanwhile he was establishing himself as a conductor of highreputation, directing the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra for a season and takingappointments at Munich and then at the opera in Berlin, where he later became conductor ofthe Court Orchestra. Thenew century brought renewed attention to the composition of opera, a medium in which hehad initially been not particularly successful. The first performance of Salome in Dresdenin 1905 was followed in 1909 by Elektra in the same city, with a libretto by the writerwith whom he was to enjoy a fruitful collaboration, Hugo von Hoffmannsthal. Der Rosenkavalier, a romantic opera set in the worldof Mozart, was staged at the Court Opera in Dresden in 1911, followed by ten furtheroperas, ending only with Capriccio, staged at the Staatsoper in Munich in 1942.Itwas unfortunate that Strauss, in common with certain other musicians of the greatesteminence, was compromised by association with the National Socialist Government that cameto power in Germany in 1933. His acquiescence, when given the position of president of theReichsmusikkammer and his ingenuous willingness to take the place of Bruno Walter at aBerlin concert, when the latter had been compelled to withdraw by threats of publicdisorder, and of Toscanini, who had withdrawn from projected performances at Bayreuth involuntary protest at anti-Semitic policies, were later remembered. The fact that hisdaughter-in-law was Jewish and that she and his grandchildren had to be protected may haveinfluenced the course of apparent complaisance that he chos