June 9, 2014.Richard Strauss at 150 and Edvard Grieg.Richard Strauss was born this week, on June 11th of 1864.At the end of his life, in 1947 (he died two years later) he declared: "I may not be a first-rate composer, but I am a first-class second-rate composer." It might have seemed that way in the middle of the 20th century.Strauss’ music, much of it in the late-romantic German tradition, sounded dated compared, for example, to Stravinsky or Schoenberg.But these days Strauss’s judgment seems too harsh.His music endures and is probably more popular these days than it was at the time of his death.Strauss worked in many different genres.He wrote large tone poems (Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks, Thus Spoke Zarathustra, and Don Quixote, written in the years from 1895 to 1897, are the most popular), concertos (for the violin early in his career, in 1881, and a famous one for the oboe, at the end of it, in 1945).He wrote a not very successful and long Burleske for piano and orchestra, practically a one-movement piano concerto.He also wrote a number of wonderful songs.But it’s probably his operas that have maintained Strauss’s reputation throughout the last several decades.His first successful opera was the 1905 Salome, based on a play by Oscar Wilde (not everybody was impressed: Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, after suffering through the opera, went to Café de la Paix next door and, according to Chaliapin, became literally sick).The difficult and musically even more daring Elektra came four years later.But it was his next opera,Der Rosenkavalier, that brought him the greatest success. Very well received at its premier in 1911, it has remained in the repertoire of all major opera houses till today.Two main characters, the Marschallin (soprano) and her young lover Octavian (a mezzo trouser role) had an illustrious history.One of the most famous Marschallins was the great German soprano Elisabeth Schwarzkopf.Régine Crespin and Christa Ludwig were also very successful in this role.At the end of the 20th century Kiri Te Kanawa owned the role, and lately it has practically belonged to Renée Fleming.Christa Ludwig, naturally a mezzo, also sung the role of Ottavian.Tatiana Troyanos, Frederica von Stade and Anne Sofie von Otter were great Ottavians.Here’s the 1992 concert recording of the final scene of Der Rosenkavalier. The Marschallin is Renee Fleming, Octavian – Frederica von Stade, and Sophie is sung by Kathleen Battle, all three ingreat voices.Claudio Abbado leads the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. We cut out about 5 minutes of applause.
Edvard Grieg was also born this week, on June 15th of 1843.He put Norway on the musical map of Europe (it’s safe to say that to this day he remains the only Norwegian composer of note).His most popular compositions were the lyrical Piano concerto and the incidental music to Ibsen's play Peer Gynt (Grieg created two suites out of the incidental music, each containing four movements, and this is how it’s usually performed on the concert stage).His Violin sonata no. 3 is played often (we have several recordings in our library, here is one with the violinists Gregory Maytan and Nicole Lee on the piano).In 1882 he wrote a sonata for cello and piano.Grieg, an excellent pianist, played the accompanying piano at the premiere.We’ll hear it in a live recording made in 1964 by an even better pianist, Sviatoslav Richter, and one of the greatest cellists of the 20th century, Mstislav Rostropovich.
Richard Strauss, Edvard Grieg 2014
June 9, 2014. Richard Strauss at 150 and Edvard Grieg. Richard Strauss was born this week, on June 11th of 1864. At the end of his life, in 1947 (he died two years later) he declared: "I may not be a first-rate composer, but I am a first-class second-rate composer." It might have seemed that way in the middle of the 20th century. Strauss’ music, much of it in the late-romantic German tradition, sounded dated
compared, for example, to Stravinsky or Schoenberg. But these days Strauss’s judgment seems too harsh. His music endures and is probably more popular these days than it was at the time of his death. Strauss worked in many different genres. He wrote large tone poems (Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks, Thus Spoke Zarathustra, and Don Quixote, written in the years from 1895 to 1897, are the most popular), concertos (for the violin early in his career, in 1881, and a famous one for the oboe, at the end of it, in 1945). He wrote a not very successful and long Burleske for piano and orchestra, practically a one-movement piano concerto. He also wrote a number of wonderful songs. But it’s probably his operas that have maintained Strauss’s reputation throughout the last several decades. His first successful opera was the 1905 Salome, based on a play by Oscar Wilde (not everybody was impressed: Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, after suffering through the opera, went to Café de la Paix next door and, according to Chaliapin, became literally sick). The difficult and musically even more daring Elektra came four years later. But it was his next opera,Der Rosenkavalier, that brought him the greatest success. Very well received at its premier in 1911, it has remained in the repertoire of all major opera houses till today. Two main characters, the Marschallin (soprano) and her young lover Octavian (a mezzo trouser role) had an illustrious history. One of the most famous Marschallins was the great German soprano Elisabeth Schwarzkopf. Régine Crespin and Christa Ludwig were also very successful in this role. At the end of the 20th century Kiri Te Kanawa owned the role, and lately it has practically belonged to Renée Fleming. Christa Ludwig, naturally a mezzo, also sung the role of Ottavian. Tatiana Troyanos, Frederica von Stade and Anne Sofie von Otter were great Ottavians. Here’s the 1992 concert recording of the final scene of Der Rosenkavalier. The Marschallin is Renee Fleming, Octavian – Frederica von Stade, and Sophie is sung by Kathleen Battle, all three in great voices. Claudio Abbado leads the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. We cut out about 5 minutes of applause.
Edvard Grieg was also born this week, on June 15th of 1843. He put Norway on the musical map of Europe (it’s safe to say that to this day he remains the only Norwegian composer of note). His most popular compositions were the lyrical Piano concerto and the incidental music to Ibsen's play Peer Gynt (Grieg created two suites out of the incidental music, each containing four movements, and this is how it’s usually performed on the concert stage). His Violin sonata no. 3 is played often (we have several recordings in our library, here is one with the violinists Gregory Maytan and Nicole Lee on the piano). In 1882 he wrote a sonata for cello and piano. Grieg, an excellent pianist, played the accompanying piano at the premiere. We’ll hear it in a live recording made in 1964 by an even better pianist, Sviatoslav Richter, and one of the greatest cellists of the 20th century, Mstislav Rostropovich.