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
-
Arias & Lieder
Herbert von Karajan, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf
Classique - Paru chez Urania le 1 janv. 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Christopher Rouse, R. Strauss
Alan Gilbert, New York Philharmonic
Musique symphonique - Paru chez New York Philharmonic le 28 janv. 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Richard Strauss, Also Sprach Zarathustra, Op. 30
Classique - Paru chez Classical.com Music le 16 févr. 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Richard Strauss, Anton Bruckner, Joseph Haydn (Live)
Thomas Zehetmair, Orchestre national Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Richard Strauss, Anton Bruckner, Joseph Haydn
Classique - Paru chez XXI Music le 20 sept. 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Strauss: Sonatina No. 1 in F Major for 16 Wind Instruments, TrV 288 "From the Workshop of an Invalid"
Classique - Paru chez K&K Verlagsanstalt le 20 oct. 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Richard Strauss conducts his Tone Poems
Munich Reichssenders Orchestra, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Berlin Deutschlandsenders Orchestra, Richard Strauss
Classique - Paru chez Music and Arts Programs of America le 3 juil. 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Strauss: Wiener Philharmoniker Fanfare
Richard Strauss, Christian Lindberg, Royal Seville Symphony Orchestra
Classique - Paru chez EUROPEAN GRAMOPHONE le 10 janv. 2023
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Lieder for the Turn of a Century
Katherine Broderick, Malcolm Martineau
Classique - Paru chez Champs Hill Records le 29 oct. 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Symphonies Nos.40 & 41
Staatskapelle Berlin, Richard Strauss
Classique - Paru chez Deutsche Grammophon (DG) le 1 janv. 1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Richard Strauss · Composer, Conductor, Pianist & Piano Accompanist
Richard Strauss, Staatskapelle Berlin (Orchester der Staatsoper)
Classique - Paru chez G.O.P. le 18 déc. 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
150 Jahre Richard Strauss - Lieder (Richard Strauss 1864-1949, zum 150. Geburtstag 2014)
Classique - Paru chez Amüsement le 14 août 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Strauss & Schoenberg: Transfigured Night
Musique de chambre - Paru chez Ayriel Classical le 6 nov. 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Richard Strauss: Historical Recordings, Volume 4
Viorica Ursuleac, Ludwig Weber, Georgine Von Milinkovic
Opéra - Paru chez Classical Moments le 25 mars 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Strauss Conducts Strauss
Classique - Paru chez Urania le 3 févr. 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Richard Strauss: Till Eulenspiegels Lustige Streiche, Tod und Verklärung, Op. 24, Don Juan & Rosenkavalier Suite
Classique - Paru chez Soundmark Records le 21 févr. 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Strauss: Cello Sonata, Op. 6, TrV 115 – Honegger: Sonata for Cello & Piano, H 32 - Sonatina for Cello & Piano, H 42
Classique - Paru chez VDE-GALLO le 9 mars 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Strauss and Hindemith Horn Concertos
Musique concertante - Paru chez Regis Records le 22 août 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Die agyptische Helena
Opéra - Paru chez Opera d'Oro le 8 avr. 2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Songs of Richard Strauss, Live in Concert
Steven Kimbrough, Dalton Baldwin
Musique vocale (profane et sacrée) - Paru chez Arabesque Recordings le 27 mai 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Richard Strauss: Ein Heldenleben (A Hero's Life), Op. 40
Classique - Paru chez Everest Records le 10 juil. 1959
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Richard Strauss · Composer, Conductor, Pianist & Piano Accompanist
Classique - Paru chez G.O.P. le 11 déc. 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo