One more day before heading home. A little time to explore a few churches, eat some great food and enjoy a night of music.
For this evening we will be savoring sampling from Strauss.
Repertoire
Richard Strauss: entertainment, Op. 86 (1941) 34′
Richard Strauss: Vier letzte Lieder (Four Last Songs), Op. posth. (1948) 25′
Richard Strauss: Also Sprach Zarathustra (Thus Spoke Zaratustra), Op. 30 (1896) 25′
Artists
Barcelona Symphony Orchestra (OBC)
Heidi Melton, soprano
Programme
Richard Strauss was the great master of symphonic poems. Together with Don Quixote, Death and Transfiguration and his Domestic Symphony, Thus Spake Zarathustra
is one of his most well-rounded works. Premiered in Frankfurt and
conducted by Strauss himself, in his music, the composer not only
conveys his reading of Friedrich Nietzsche–as Mahler also did at the
time by setting part of the text to music–, but also his understanding
of his era and that of the new century: Nietzsche parodied the New
Testament, proclaiming that the late 19th century would herald a new era
that would lead to a change in relations between good and evil.
All the humor, polished use of timbre, and skill of Strauss’ compositions are embodied in his entertainment, a dance suite inspired by 18th century France leading to a surprising Suite From Keyboard Pieces by François Couperin.
The Bavarian composer’s last songs can be considered to be some of the masterpieces of the German lied.
They testify to a particular era and to a high point in the genre.
Written for soprano and orchestra and based on poems by Joseph von
Eichendorff and Hermann Hesse, they describe a journey from spring to
death.
