Richard Strauss
Though the long career of Richard Strauss spanned one of the most chaotic periods in political, social, and cultural history of the world, the composer retained his essentially Romantic aesthetic even into the age of television, jet engines, and atom bombs.
Born in Munich in 1864, Strauss was the son of Franz Joseph Strauss, the principal hornist in the Munich Court Orchestra. Strauss demonstrated musical aptitude at an early age, and extensive training in piano, violin, theory, harmony, and orchestration equipped him to produce music of extraordinary polish and maturity by the time he reached adulthood. His primary teachers had been his father, who was a musical conservative, and Ludwig Thuille, a Munich School composer and family friend. Strauss' Serenade for 13 Winds, Op. 7 (1881), written when he was 17, led conductor Hans von Bülow to pronounce him "by far the most striking personality since Brahms." Bülow was able to give Strauss his first commission and an assistant conductor position. Through new friendships, Strauss learned to admire the writings of Schopenhauer and Nietzsche and the music of Wagner and Liszt. He embarked on a long career of conducting and composing, which took him all over Europe and the U.S.
From the beginning of Strauss' career as a composer, it was evident that the orchestra was his natural medium. With the composition of the "symphonic fantasy" Aus Italien in 1886, Strauss embarked on a series of works that represents both one of the pivotal phases of his career and a body of music of central importance in the late German Romantic repertoire. Though he did not invent the tone poem per se, he brought it to its pinnacle. In such works as Don Juan (1888-1889), Ein Heldenleben (1897-1898), and Also sprach Zarathustra (1895-1896) -- of which first minute or so, thanks to its use in the film 2001: A Space Odyssey, is the composer's most readily recognizable music -- Strauss displayed his abundant gift for exploiting the coloristic possibilities of the orchestra as a dramatic device like few composers ever had (or have since).
With the arrival of the 20th century, after becoming conductor at Berlin's Hofoper, Strauss' interest turned more fully to opera, resulting in a body of unforgettable works that have long been fixtures of the repertoire: Salome (1903-1905), Elektra (1906-1908), and Der Rosenkavalier (1909-1910) are just a few of his best-known efforts for the stage. In 1919, Strauss became co-director of the Vienna Staatsoper, but was forced to resign five years later by his partner, Franz Schalk, who resented being left with many of the operational duties while Strauss was frequently away guest conducting or being feted as a great composer. When the political situation in Europe became malignant in the 1930s, profound political naïveté led to Strauss' confused involvement the Nazi propaganda machine, and the composer eventually alienated both the Nazis and their opponents. With the end of World War II, however, he was permitted to resume his professional life, although it would be a mere echo of his previous fame. He began to have serious health problems, his financial situation had been compromised, and the monuments that embodied great German art for him -- Goethe's Weimar house; the Dresden, Munich, and Vienna opera houses -- had been destroyed. Throughout his last years, works such as the Oboe Concerto (1945) and the expressive Four Last Songs (1948) attest to Strauss' unwavering confidence in his singular musical voice.
© TiVo
Artistes similaires
-
Richard Strauss · Composer, Conductor, Pianist & Piano Accompanist
Richard Strauss, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra
Classique - Paru chez G.O.P. le 11 déc. 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Also Sprach Zarathustra
Gonzalo Schafer Canobra, Richard Strauss
Dance - Paru chez Gonzalo Schafer Canobra le 11 nov. 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-
Fantastic Variations for Cello, Viola and Orchestra, Op. 35
Classique - Paru chez Pipeline Music le 9 juin 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Richard Strauss: Salome (Highlights)
Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO), Richard Strauss, Inge Borkh, Fritz Reiner
Classique - Paru chez Music Manager le 25 oct. 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Richard Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier & Der Bürger als Edelmann (The Great Conductors)
Tivoli Orchestra, Josef Wolfsthal, Richard Strauss, Staatsoper Unter den Linden
Classique - Paru chez Jube Classic le 6 mai 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Richard Strauss, Maurice Ravel
Classique - Paru chez Irco Video le 18 sept. 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Richard Strauss, Los Grandes de la Música Clásica
Orquesta Lírica de Barcelona, María Ángeles Damunt, Rafael coloma
Classique - Paru chez Piros Comercial Digital le 23 sept. 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Strauss: Violin Sonata in B-Flat Major, Op. 18, TrV 151 - Brahms: Violin Sonata No. 1 in G Major, Op. 78
Musique de chambre - Paru chez VDE-GALLO le 25 mai 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
R. Strauss: Arabella
Opéra - Paru chez Unchained Melody le 15 mai 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Strauss: Der Abend
National Youth Choir Of Great Britain
Classique - Paru chez NYCGB le 4 nov. 2016
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Strauss: Violin Concerto in D Minor - Bartok: Violin Concerto No. 2
USSR TV and Radio Large Symphony Orchestra, Igor Oïstrakh, Valentin Zhuk
Classique - Paru chez Blaricum CD Company (B.C.D.) B.V. le 26 oct. 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier (The Knight of the Rose), Op. 59: Waltz Suite II (Digitally Remastered)
Moscow State Symphony Orchestra, Veronica Dudarova
Classique - Paru chez EMG Classical le 29 juin 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier (The Knight of the Rose), Op. 59: Waltz Suite I (Digitally Remastered)
Moscow State Symphony Orchestra, Veronica Dudarova
Classique - Paru chez EMG Classical le 29 juin 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier (The Knight of the Rose), Op. 59: Waltz Suite I (Digitally Remastered)
Munich Ball Orchestra, Georg Hlinka
Classique - Paru chez EMG Classical le 29 juin 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Strauss: Salome, Op. 54: "The Last Song of Salome" (Digitally Remastered)
European Philharmonic Orchestra, Wolfgang Gröhs, Jutta Seifert
Classique - Paru chez EMG Classical le 29 juin 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Strauss: Salome, Op. 54: "The Dance of Salome" (Digitally Remastered)
Moscow RTV Large Symphony Orchestra, Alexander Kopylov
Classique - Paru chez EMG Classical le 29 juin 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Strauss: Horn Concerto No. 1 in E-Flat Major, Op. 11 (Digitally Remastered)
Moscow RTV Symphony Orchestra, Vladimir Fedoseyev, Viktor Galkin
Classique - Paru chez EMG Classical le 29 juin 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Strauss: Ein Heldenleben (A Hero's Life), Op. 40 (Digitally Remastered)
Moscow RTV Large Symphony Orchestra, Dmitri Kitayenko, Valentin Zhuk
Classique - Paru chez EMG Classical le 29 juin 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Wilhelm Furtwangler Conducts. Richard Strauss
Classique - Paru chez Russian Compact Disc le 8 mai 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Richard Strauss begleitet (Vol. 1)
Classique - Paru chez Preiser Records le 1 oct. 1989
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo