| biography |
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At the start of his long and brilliant career, Strauss (1864-1949)
was at the forefront of the musical avant-garde with his thrillingly
orchestrated tone poems and operatic portrayals of psychopathology.
As the postromantic style he epitomized yielded to new developments,
Strauss was later perceived as a conservative throwback, but is
now firmly established as one of the century's most significant
composers.
Conductor Lorin Maazel
on Strauss
On the 50th anniversary
of Richard Strauss's death, Lorin Maazel commemorates the composer's
achievements
Lorin Maazel is the epitome of the conductor as cultured polymath.
In addition to his fluency in several languages and easy familiarity
with the world's leading orchestras, Maazel is a published novelist,
art collector, and environmental advocate. Just in time for the
music world's commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the death
of Richard Strauss, Maazel's traversal of the great tone poems
has been released in a four-CD
box set. And this week you can catch him in a taped telecast
of opening night at Carnegie Hall as the first of this season's
Great Performances on PBS. Maazel, who will turn 70 in the millennium
year, has been touring with the Vienna Philharmonic--both have
a long-abiding relationship--to give a series of concerts. Their
repertory will feature not only Strauss but a number of orchestral
wizards, including one with whom Maazel has closely identified
throughout his career, i.e., Gustav
Mahler. On the day before those concerts began, Maazel spoke
with Amazon.com's Thomas May about the greatness of Strauss and
his significance for our century. [read
more...]
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| recommended
recordings |
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R.
Strauss: Also Sprach Zarathustra, Don Juan, etc / Karajan
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Composer:
Richard
Strauss
Conductor: Herbert
von Karajan
Performer: Michel
Schwalbé
Ensemble: Berlin
Philharmonic Orchestra
Uni/Deutsche Grammophon - #47441 / April 9, 1996
Click
here for more information |
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Herbert von Karajan was a Strauss specialist, and if ever
composer and conductor were united in musical philosophy,
then these two were. Both favored making a beautiful, creamy,
homogenized sound over just about all else, and von Karajan
clearly relished the opportunities this music offered for
playing that combined both tonal opulence and virtuosity.
His Zarathustra (a.k.a. 2001: A Space Odyssey)
is, along with Fritz Reiner's, probably among the two or three
best performances preserved on disc,...Read
more
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Strauss:
Four last Songs, Arabella, etc / Della Casa, et al
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Composer:
Richard
Strauss
Conductor: Karl
Böhm, Rudolf
Moralt, et al.
Performer: Lisa
Della Casa, Hilde
Gueden, et al.
Ensemble: Vienna
Philharmonic Orchestra
Uni/Decca - #467118 / October 10, 2000
Click
here for more information |
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| Della Casa's 1953 recording of the Four Last
Songs is one of the finest ever made. Her limpid, tranquil
tone is beautifully supported by Karl Böhm, who prevents
the music from descending into sentimentality. A dry-eyed
and dignified account, this recording is a wonderful testament
to all those involved. - The Rough Guide |
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Strauss:
Don Quixote; Schumann: Cello Concerto / Rostropovich, Karajan,
et al |
Composer:
Richard
Strauss, Robert
Schumann
Conductor: Herbert
von Karajan, Leonard
Bernstein
Performer: Mstislav
Rostropovich
Ensemble: Berlin
Philharmonic
Emd/Emi Classics - #66965 / March 9, 1999
Click
here for more information |
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Whenever Karajan and Rostropovich teamed up, great things
happened. In 1975, they recorded what many still consider
the consummate Don Quixote, a richly characterized,
brilliantly played account of what is probably Strauss's best
tone poem. Rostropovich's command of the solo part is overwhelming,
but even more impressive is the imagination he brings to the
reading, in particular his identification with the poignant,
crazed side of the old knight's character. The Berliners produce
a veritable...Read
more
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Strauss:
Salome / Solti, Nilsson, Vienna Philharmonic |
Composer:
Richard
Strauss
Conductor: Sir
Georg Solti
Performer: Nigel
Douglas, Kurt
Equiluz, et al.
Ensemble: Vienna
Philharmonic Orchestra
Uni/London Classics - #14414 / July 7, 1987
Click
here for more information |
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Soprano Birgit Nilsson would not look right in the role of
the kittenish, erotically obsessed teenage princess who does
her Dance of the Seven Veils for King Herod and demands the
head of John the Baptist in payment. For that, you want to
see Catherine Malfitano in the video edition issued by Telarc.
But no other soprano on record matches Nilsson's vocal power
and control in Salome's cruelly demanding music. The
role calls for strong characterization as well as glittering
high notes, and in...Read
more
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Strauss:
Der Rosenkavalier / Karajan, Schwarzkopf, Edelmann [ORIGINAL
RECORDING REMASTERED] |
Composer:
Richard
Strauss
Conductor: Herbert
von Karajan
Performer: Otto
Edelmann, Christa
Ludwig, et al.
Ensemble: Philharmonia
Chorus, Philharmonia
Orchestra
Emd/Emi Classics - #56242 / September 16, 1997
Click
here for more information |
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An opera that seems to bring the best out of performers, Rosenkavalier
inspired these perf ormers to make a recording for the ages.
With a superb Ochs and glorious singing from its three leading
l adies, and with Herbert von Karajan keeping the Philharmonia
on the edge of its seat, this enticing portr ait of love from
three angles emerges in all its bittersweet perfection. EMI
recorded the opera with sepa rate engineering teams in stereo
and mono; this remastering of the stereo version is...Read
more
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more recommended recordings
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| works
& recordings |
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- Chamber Music
Trios, Quartets, Quintets
- Choral
Secular and sacred choral music. Oratorios, Masses, Partsongs,
Hymns, Carols
- Instrumental
Sonatas, Suites, Overtures, Minuets, Variations, Transcriptions,
Dance Music
- Orchestra
Concertos, Symphonies
- Theatrical Works
Ballet, Stage, Incidental Music, Film Scores
- Vocal and Opera
Opera, Operetta, Song, Lieder, Musical Theater
Complete
List of Works and Recordings
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| resources |
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