Episodes
| Series | Episode | Title | First Broadcast | Repeated | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 01 | 20091012 | Donald Macleod explores the life and music of Richard Strauss, hailed in his youthful fame as 'the outstanding living composer'. He focuses on Strauss' early works, which frame the story of his final days. As the composer wrote on his deathbed, 'dying is just as I composed it in Death and Transfiguration'. Morgen!, Op 27, No 4 Anne Schwanewilms (soprano) Halle Orchestra Mark Elder (conductor) Halle CDHLL7508 Tr 5 Sonata in E flat for violin and piano, Op 18 Vadim Repin (violin) Boris Berezovsky (piano) Erato 8573-85769-2 Trs 1-3 Tod und Verklarung, Op 24 Staatskapelle Dresden Rudolf Kempe (conductor) EMI 7243 5 73619 2 7 CD5 Tr 2. Donald Macleod explores Strauss' final days, framed by recordings of his early works. | ||
| 2009 | 02 | 20091013 | Donald Macleod explores the life and work of Richard Strauss, examining events in the composer's early career that led him to develop an iron will to reinvent musical forms and push Romanticism to its limits. Wiegenlied, Op 41, No 1 Renee Fleming (soprano) Houston Symphony Orchestra Christoph Eschenbach (conductor) RCA 09026 68539 2 Tr 7 Helft! Morder!; Elektra! Schwester!; Ob ich nicht hore?; Elektra's Dance; Elektra!/Schweig, und tanze (Elektra) Aegisth - Fritz Uhl (tenor) Elektra - Inge Borkh (soprano) Chrysothemis - Marianne Schech (soprano) Choir of the Staatskapelle Dresden Karl Bohm (conductor) DG 431 737-2 CD2 Trs 13-17 Sonata in F for cello and piano, Op 6 Stephen Isserlis (cello) Stephen Hough (piano) RCA 74321 75389 2 Trs 15-17 Der Abend, Op 34, No 1 The Danish National Radio Choir Stefan Parkman (conductor) Chandos CHAN 9223 Tr 1. Donald Macleod examines events in Richard Strauss' early career. | ||
| 2009 | 03 | 20091014 | Donald Macleod explores the life and work of Richard Strauss, and examines the composer's everyday life, including his favourite pastime - the card game Skat, and a revealing musical portrait of his family life, the Symphonia Domestica. Stille...O weh, Falke, o weh! (Die Frau ohne Schatten - Act 2) Der Kaiser - Placido Domingo (tenor) Vienna Philharmonic Georg Solti (conductor) Decca 436 243-2 CD2 Tr 5 An Einsamer Quelle (Stimmungsbilder, Op 9) Daniel Barenboim (piano) Teldec 3984-23913-2 Tr 10 Symphonia domestica, Op 53 Scottish National Orchestra Neeme Jarvi (conductor) Chandos CHAN 10206 X Trs 1-5. Donald Macleod on Strauss' everyday life, including his favourite pastime - a card game. | ||
| 2009 | 04 | 20091015 | Donald Macleod explores the life and work of Richard Strauss. He focuses on the composer at the time of the First World War, when his music began to show an even more profound sense of irony. His incidental music for Le bourgeois gentilhomme is a typical example, presenting the style and mood of 18th century music in a 20th-century manner. Ouverture; Schlaft sie? (Ariadne) Najade - Christiane Hossfeld (soprano) Dryade - Angela Liebold (mezzo-soprano) Echo - Eva Kirchner (soprano) Ariadne - Deborah Voigt (soprano) Staatskapelle Dresden Giuseppe Sinopoli (conductor) DG 471 323-2 CD1 Trs 9-10 Der Pokal; Einerlei; Waldesfahrt; Schlechtes Wetter (Kleine Lieder, Op 69) Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (baritone) Gerald Moore (piano) EMI 7 63995 2 CD6 Trs 4-7 Le bourgeois gentilhomme, Op 60 Berlin Philharmonic Simon Rattle (conductor) 0EMI 3 39339 2 Trs 7-15. Donald Macleod focuses on Strauss' music at the time of the First World War. | ||
| 2009 | 05 LAST | 20091016 | Donald Macleod explores the life and work of Richard Strauss. He appraises Strauss' controversial role as the leading German composer of the Nazi era, and introduces what has been called 'the most challenging tonal choral work ever written', his Deutsche Motette. Zueignung, Op 10, No 1 Christine Brewer (soprano) Roger Vignoles (piano) Hyperion CDA67488 Tr 1 Schwung: Gebt mir meinen Becher! Seht, er uberstrahlt; Liebesgeschenke: Ich pfluckte eine kleine Pfirsichblute; Die Allmachtige: Die hochste Macht der Erde sitzt auf keinem Tron; Huldigung: Die Perlen meiner Seele (Gesange des Orients), Op 77 Hyperion CDA67488 Trs 14-18 Horn Concerto No 2 in E flat Dennis Brain (horn) Philharmonia Orchestra Wolfgang Sawallisch (conductor) EMI 47834 Trs 4-6 Deutsche Mottete, Op 62 The Danish National Radio Choir Stefan Parkman (conductor) Chandos CHAN 9223 Tr 3. Donald Macleod explores Strauss' role as the leading German composer of the Nazi era. | ||
| 2010 | 01 | 1883 | 20100405 | Richard Strauss lived one of the longest lives of any composer. He was born in 1864, when the American Civil War was raging. By the time he died in 1949, two global conflicts had been fought and the world had changed entirely. This week, Donald Macleod explores the music and stories from five distinct years of Strauss's life. We travel in time from the 19 year old Strauss's first forays as a professional composer, to the final works of an old man, exploring his personal and professional relationships as we go. In today's programme, 1883, the year in which there was a changing of the guard in German music. Richard Wagner died, and Richard Strauss had his first professional success. Donald Macleod focuses on the changing of the guard in German music in 1883. | |
| 2010 | 02 | 1894 | 20100406 | Taking five snapshots of Richard Strauss' life, Donald Macleod focuses on 1894. | |
| 2010 | 03 | 1905 | 20100407 | Donald Macleod focuses on the start of Richard Strauss' work with Hugo von Hofmannstahl. | |
| 2010 | 04 | 1935 | 20100408 | Donald Macleod explores another significant year in the life of Richard Strauss. 1935 saw the coming into force of Hitler's Nuremberg Laws and the beginning of a nightmare for Europe. Strauss's relations with the Nazis are difficult to unravel. On the one hand, he accepted an official post in Goebbels's cultural ministry - on the other, members of his own family suffered because of their Jewishness. Donald Macleod tells the story. Donald Macleod focuses on the unravelling of Richard Strauss' relations with the Nazis. | |
| 2010 | 05 LAST | 1946 | 20100409 | After the war, Strauss faced de-Nazification - as someone who had held an administrative post in the Nazi administration, he had to face a tribunal, which would make a judgement on the extent of his guilt. The judgement finally came in 1948; while he was waiting, Strauss wrote some of his most popular music. Donald Macleod focuses on the year 1946, when Richard Strauss faced de-Nazification. | |
| 2018 | 01 | A Star In The Ascendant | 20180226 | In 1894, aged 30, German composer and conductor Richard Strauss embarked on his most important conducting job to date, at the Munich Opera House. That year he reinforced his standing in the concert hall with another brilliantly colourful tone poem and married his soulmate and muse, Pauline de Ahna. But he was keen to establish himself on the operatic stage, too, and after the poor reception of his first two operas came Salome. It nearly caused a riot amongst the performers and Strauss was accused of sensationalism by his critics, but it was an instant success and immediately in demand from opera houses all over Europe. Presented by Donald Macleod. Morgen!, Op 27 No 4 Kiera Duffy (soprano) Roger Vignoles (piano) Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Conductor, Manfred Honeck Wiegenlied, Op 41 No 1 Christine Brewer (soprano) Salome (excerpts) Salome - Christine Brewer (soprano) Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Conductor, Donald Runnicles. The composer embarks on his most important conducting job to date. | |
| 2018 | 02 | 20180227 | As General Director of the Berlin Court Opera and conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic, Strauss was, by 1908, Germany's most powerful musician. With his next opera began one of the greatest partnerships between composer and librettist in operatic history, but also one of the most problematic. His second collaboration with the writer Hugo von Hofmannsthal produced Der Rosenkavalier which was a tremendous success when it was premiered in 1911. The next, with Moli耀re's play Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme as its inspiration, was fraught with difficulty and required several reinventions before it gained the popularity it would eventually achieve. Presented by Donald Macleod. Mit deinem blauen Augen, Op 56 No 4 Christopher Maltman (baritone) Roger Vignoles (piano) Der Rosenkavalier (excerpt) Marschallin - Kiri Te Kanawa (soprano) Octavian - Anne Sofie von Otter (mezzo) Sophie - Barbara Hendricks (soprano) Staatskappelle Dresden Conductor, Bernard Haitink Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme (excerpt) Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Conductor, Simon Rattle Ariadne auf Naxos (excerpt) Composer - Anne Sofie von Otter (mezzo) Zerbinetta - Natalie Dessay (soprano) Prima Donna - Deborah Voigt (soprano) Music Master - Albert Dohmen (baritone) Dancing Master - Michael Howard (tenor) Staatskapelle Dresden Conductor, Giuseppe Sinopoli. Donald Macleod introduces Strauss's partnership with the librettist Hugo von Hoffmannsthal | ||
| 2018 | 03 | World War One And Its Aftermath | 20180228 | Life carried on pretty much as normal for Strauss during the war. His strenuous conducting schedule continued at the Berlin Court Opera and he undertook punishing conducting tours. He met the soprano Elisabeth Schumann during his travels. Her voice inspired Strauss to write his first songs in 12 years, including three which trace Ophelia's descent into madness. After the war, life at the Berlin Opera House became untenable and he took on the co-directorship of the Vienna Opera, a move not without its own challenges. There, Strauss's opera Die Frau ohne Schatten received a lukewarm reception at its premiere. A few years later came his next opera, which featured the composer and his wife as the main characters and a farcical case of mistaken identity in his personal life. Presented by Donald Macleod. Amor (Brentano Lieder, Op 68) Kiera Duffy (soprano) Roger Vignoles (piano) Die Frau ohne Schatten (excerpt) Empress - Julia Varady (soprano) Nurse - Reinhild Runkel (contralto) Dyer's Wife - Hildegard Behrens (soprano) Barak - Jos退 van Dam (baritone) Vienna State Opera Chorus and Children's Choir Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra Conductor, Sir Georg Solti Ophelia Lieder, Op 67 Christiane Karg (soprano) Malcolm Martineau (piano) Four Symphonic Interludes from 'Intermezzo Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra Conductor, Franz Welser-M怀st. Donald Macleod looks at the effects of the war on Strauss's life. | |
| 2018 | 04 | The Third Reich | 20180301 | Soon after Hitler became Chancellor of Germany, he wasted no time in setting up the Reich's Culture Chamber, of which Strauss was invited to take on the role of president of the music section. Strauss believed he could improve the country's musical affairs through his official position but his close association with the Nazi regime would ultimately prove to be both a blessing and a curse. When Strauss wrote an ill-advised letter to his new librettist, the Jewish writer Stefan Zweig, criticising the regime, it was intercepted by the Gestapo and Strauss was ordered to resign from his official position less than two years after taking on the role. Presented by Donald Macleod. Das B䀀chlein, Op 88 No 1 Diana Damrau Munich Philharmonic Conductor, Christian Thielemann Schlagobers Waltz (excerpt) Detroit Symphony Orchestra Conductor, Neeme J䀀rvi Arabella (excerpt) Arabella - Jane Eaglen (soprano) Israel Philharmonic Orchestra Conductor, Zubin Mehta Die G怀ttin im Putzzimmer Danish National Radio Chamber Choir Conductor, Stefan Parkman Daphne (excerpt) Daphne - Ren退e Fleming (soprano) Apollo - Johan Botha (tenor) Cologne Radio Symphony Orchestra Conductor, Semyon Bychkov. Donald Macleod introduces music written by Strauss during the Third Reich. | |
| 2018 | 05 LAST | Final Decade | 20180302 | Richard Strauss was 75 when war was declared in September 1939. The years leading up to his death, a decade later, would be some of the most challenging of his life. Strauss's son had married into a Jewish family and when persecution of the Jews began in earnest, Strauss and his family were ostracized. Ironically his association with a senior Nazi official helped keep his immediate family safe. After his last completed opera, Capriccio, Strauss turned away from the stage to write a series of orchestral pieces. During his final years he produced some of his most intensely felt music. Metamorphosen is a profound lament prompted by the destruction of Munich and Dresden, and his Four Last Songs are as much a tribute to his relationship with his wife as they are a farewell to life itself. Presented by Donald Macleod. Capriccio - final aria, 'Kein andres, das mir so im Herzen loht Countess - Elizabeth Schwarzkopf (soprano) Major-domo - Karl Schmitt-Walter (baritone) Philharmonia Orchestra Conductor Raphael Sawallisch Horn Concerto No 2 (final mvt) David Pyatt (horn) Britten Sinfonia Conductor, Nicholas Cleobury Leipzig String Quartet Hartmut Rohde (viola) Michael Sanderling (cello) Christian Ockert (bass) Beim Schlafengehen (Four Last Songs) Soile Isokoski (soprano) Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra Conductor, Marek Janowski. Donald Macleod introduces two of Strauss's most profound works. | |
| 2021 | 01 | The Making Of A Composer | 20210301 | 20220321 (R3) | Donald Macleod charts Richard Strauss's precocious early years, with music including his First Symphony, which was written in his last year at school. During Richard Strauss's lifetime the sound and form of music altered radically. He was born at the tail end of the 19th century and saw the emergence of twelve-tone music and atonality from younger composers like Arnold Schoenberg and his pupil Alban Berg. Strauss belonged to a previous generation and his music came to be regarded as conservative in style, but at the start of his career, Strauss had been seen as something of a modernist, breaking the mould with his series of innovative orchestral tone poems, and with the dissonant sound world of operas such as Salome and Elektra. This week Donald Macleod follows the young Strauss's pathway leading up to and including the tone poems, seeing how an immersion in music across his formative years influenced his ideas about orchestral writing, as well as opening up opportunities that helped him to establish a professional career as a conductor. Having written his first compositions aged five, Richard Strauss's raw musical talent was discovered early on. His progress continued at such a rate that by 11 he was conducting an amateur orchestra, and by 18 he'd written something in the region of 150 works. Oboe Concerto in D 3rd movt: Allegro (excerpt) Alexei Ogrintchouk (oboe) Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Andris Nelsons, conductor Festmarsch in E flat major, op 1 Royal Scottish National Orchestra Neeme J䀀rvi, conductor Horn Concerto no 2 in E flat major AV 132 III: Rondo (Allegro molto) David Pyatt, horn Britten Sinfonia Nicholas Cleobury, conductor Symphony no 1 in D minor TrV 94 II: Andante Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra Kenneth Schermerhorn, conductor Concerto for violin in D minor I: Allegro Thomas Albertus Irnberger Israel Philharmonic Martin Sieghart, conductor Concert Overture in C minor op 80 TrV125 Deutsche Radio Philharmonie, Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern Hermann B䀀umer, conductor Producer: Johannah Smith for BBC Wales Donald Macleod charts Richard Strauss's precocious early years and his First Symphony. |
| 2021 | 02 | A Public Debut | 20210302 | 20220322 (R3) | Donald Macleod charts Strauss's early years, including his Second Symphony and Burleske, a work for piano that was initially described by its first performer as being unpianistic. During Richard Strauss's lifetime the sound and form of music altered radically. He was born at the tail end of the 19th century and saw the emergence of twelve-tone music and atonality from younger composers like Arnold Schoenberg and his pupil Alban Berg. Strauss belonged to a previous generation and his music came to be regarded as conservative in style, but at the start of his career, Strauss had been seen as something of a modernist, breaking the mould with his series of innovative orchestral tone poems, and with the dissonant sound world of operas such as Salome and Elektra. This week Donald Macleod follows the young Strauss's pathway leading up to and including the tone poems, seeing how an immersion in music across his formative years influenced his ideas about orchestral writing, as well as opening up opportunities that helped him to establish a professional career as a conductor. In his early 20s, Strauss was appointed assistant conductor to Hans von Bülow, then the music director of the influential Meiningen Court Orchestra. It was to turn into one of the most inspirational periods of his life. Suite in B flat major Op 4 III: Gavotte. Allegro Fran瀀ois Leleux, oboe Ensemble Paris-Bastille Symphony no 2 in F I: Allegro ma non troppo Royal Scottish National Orchestra Neeme J䀀rvi, conductor Burleske in D minor for piano and orchestra Jean-Yves Thibaudet, piano Leipzig Gewandhaus Herbert Blomstedt, conductor 8 Gedichte aus 'Letzte Bl䀀tter', Op. 10, TrV 141 No. 3, Die Nacht Louise Alder, soprano Joseph Middleton, piano Aus Italien op 16 (1887) I: Auf der Campagna Berlin Philharmonic Riccardo Muti, conductor Donald Macleod charts Strauss's early works, including his Second Symphony and Burleske. |
| 2021 | 03 | Practical Improvements | 20210303 | 20220323 (R3) | Donald Macleod explores Richard Strauss's rather fraught early years as third conductor at the Munich Opera, with music including his orchestral tone poem Tod und Verkl䀀rung. During Richard Strauss's lifetime the sound and form of music altered radically. He was born at the tail end of the 19th century and saw the emergence of twelve-tone music and atonality from younger composers like Arnold Schoenberg and his pupil Alban Berg. Strauss belonged to a previous generation and his music came to be regarded as conservative in style, but at the start of his career, Strauss had been seen as something of a modernist, breaking the mould with his series of innovative orchestral tone poems, and with the dissonant sound world of operas such as Salome and Elektra. This week Donald Macleod follows the young Strauss's pathway leading up to and including the tone poems, seeing how an immersion in music across his formative years influenced his ideas about orchestral writing, as well as opening up opportunities that helped him to establish a professional career as a conductor. Following a hasty departure by his boss, Hans von Bülow, in 1886 Strauss left his position at Meiningen to join Munich Court Opera. The experience proved to be a steep learning curve. 5 piano pieces op 3 IV: Allegro Glenn Gould, piano Serenade in E flat op 7 for 13 wind instruments Sabine Meyer Wind Ensemble Piano Quartet in C minor op 13 TrV 137 IV: Finale Vivace Michael Stepniak, viola Mendelssohn Piano Trio Tod und Verkl䀀rung, Op. 24 TrV 158 Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra Maris Janssons, director Morgen! op 27 Jessye Norman, soprano Leipzig Gewandhaus Kurt Masur, conductor Donald Macleod explores Richard Strauss's rather fraught early years at the Munich Opera. |
| 2021 | 04 | The Wagner Disciple | 20210304 | 20220324 (R3) | Donald Macleod considers Richard Strauss's move to the Weimar Court Opera, and the ideas and philosophical discussions that led to Also sprach Zarathustra. During Richard Strauss's lifetime the sound and form of music altered radically. He was born at the tail end of the 19th century and saw the emergence of twelve-tone music and atonality from younger composers like Arnold Schoenberg and his pupil Alban Berg. Strauss belonged to a previous generation and his music came to be regarded as conservative in style, but at the start of his career, Strauss had been seen as something of a modernist, breaking the mould with his series of innovative orchestral tone poems, and with the dissonant sound world of operas such as Salome and Elektra. This week Donald Macleod follows the young Strauss's pathway leading up to and including the tone poems, seeing how an immersion in music across his formative years influenced his ideas about orchestral writing, as well as opening up opportunities that helped him to establish a professional career as a conductor. After the disappointment of a lukewarm response to his first opera, Strauss was to discover that a promotion to the top position of music director would not be supported by the officials in Weimar. Overture to Act 2, Guntram (excerpt) Hungarian State Opera Eve Queler, conductor Prelude to Act 1, Guntram Orchestra of Deutche Oper, Berlin Christian Thielemann, conductor Also sprach Zarathustra, op 30 , TrV 136 Chicago Symphony Orchestra George Solti, conductor Gesang der Apollopriesterin op 33 Karita Mattila, soprano Berlin Philharmonic Claudio Abbado, conductor Donald Macleod considers Richard Strauss's time in Weimar with Also sprach Zarathustra. |
| 2021 | 05 LAST | Overwork In A Difficult Business | 20210305 | 20220325 (R3) | Donald Macleod assesses the enormous demands of Richard Strauss's appointment to the Berlin Court Opera, with music including the vast canvas of his tone poem Ein Heldenleben. During Richard Strauss's lifetime the sound and form of music altered radically. He was born at the tail end of the 19th century and saw the emergence of twelve-tone music and atonality from younger composers like Arnold Schoenberg and his pupil Alban Berg. Strauss belonged to a previous generation and his music came to be regarded as conservative in style, but at the start of his career, Strauss had been seen as something of a modernist, breaking the mould with his series of innovative orchestral tone poems, and with the dissonant sound world of operas such as Salome and Elektra. This week Donald Macleod follows the young Strauss's pathway leading up to and including the tone poems, seeing how an immersion in music across his formative years influenced his ideas about orchestral writing, as well as opening up opportunities that helped him to establish a professional career as a conductor. Strauss conducted some 25 operas a season at Berlin, but these pressures did not diminish the scale and vision of his compositional projects. Ein Heldenleben, op 40 Chicago Symphony Orchestra Rainer Küchl, violin George Solti, conductor Freundliche Vision op 48 no 1 Karita Mattila, soprano Berlin Philharmonic Claudio Abbado, conductor Violin Sonata in E flat op 18 II: Improvisation - Andante cantabile James Ehnes, violin Andrew Armstrong, piano Ein Heldenleben op 40 (excerpt) Des Helden Walstatt Des Helden Friedenswerke Des Helden Weltflucht und Vollendung Der Abend, op 34 Danish National Radio Choir & Chamber Choir Copenhagen Boys' Choir Stefan Parkman, director Producer: Johannah Smith for BBC Wales Donald Macleod assesses Richard Strauss's appointment to the Berlin Court Opera. |
| 2024 | 01 | The Odd Couple | 20240701 | All this week, Donald Macleod explores key figures in the life of Richard Strauss. Today we meet his first and most distinguished librettist, Hugo von Hofmannsthal. These two very different men – practically chalk and cheese – enjoyed an extraordinarily productive creative partnership that lasted over two decades and was only terminated by Hofmannsthal's untimely death in 1929. Their paths had first crossed in 1900, but the idea of a collaboration didn't emerge till a few years later, when Strauss saw a production of Hofmannsthal's German-language adaptation of Sophocles' bleak revenge-tragedy Elektra at Berlin's Little Theatre. Strauss immediately saw that the play was crying out to be transformed into an opera; Hofmannsthal was happy to concur; and a masterpiece was born – one that consolidated Strauss's position – recently established by his succès de scandale, Salome – as one of the leading lights of the musical avant-garde. Their next collaboration turned things topsy-turvy, as Strauss beat a nifty retreat from the brink of the stylistic precipice on which he had found himself teetering with Elektra, and plunged headlong into the warm bath of Der Rosenkavalier, a comedy of manners set in 18th-century Vienna during the reign of Maria Theresa. Four more operas followed, the last of which – a straightforward love-story, Arabella – was Hofmannsthal's response to Strauss's request for “a second Rosenkavalier – if you can't think of anything better ?. When the première finally took place, in Dresden in July 1933, Hofmannsthal had been dead for four years. In a manner worthy of tragic opera, he had died of a stroke as he dressed for the funeral of his elder son Franz, who had killed himself two days earlier. Strauss was disconsolate, saying of his former partner, “No one will ever replace him for me or for the world of music. ? As for Arabella, the première was only a moderate success, and when it was produced in Vienna, several wits dubbed it Sklerosenkavalier – Strauss being diagnosed as suffering from sclerosis of his musical arteries. Notwithstanding the sharp tongues of those catty Viennese critics, the opera has stayed in the repertoire internationally to this day. Der Rosenkavalier, Op 59 (Act 1, Introduction) Philharmonia Orchestra Herbert von Karajan, conductor Le bourgeois gentilhomme, suite for orchestra, Op 60 (1. Overture) The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen Paavo Järvi, conductor Elektra, Op 58 (Scene 6, ‘Was willst du, fremder Mensch?') Inge Borkh, soprano (Elektra) Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, baritone (Orestes) Staatskapelle Dresden Karl Böhm, conductor Arabella, Op 79 (Act 2, love duet “Sie sehn nicht aus wie jemand, den das alles da interessiert. ?) Lisa della Casa, soprano (Arabella) George London, baritone (Mandryka) Waldemar Kmentt, tenor (Elemer) Harald Pröglhoff, bass (Lamoral) Vienna Philharmonic Georg Solti, conductor Der Rosenkavalier, Op 59 (Act 3, Finale) Produced by Chris Barstow for BBC Audio Wales & West Donald Macleod explores key figures in Strauss's life. Today, Hugo von Hofmannsthal. Donald Macleod explores key figures in Strauss's life, today, his librettist Hugo von Hofmannsthal. These two very different men enjoyed an extraordinarily productive partnership. | |
| 2024 | 02 | Tempestuous Muse | 20240702 | All this week, Donald Macleod explores key figures in the life of Richard Strauss. Today we're spending some quality time with his “domineering and difficult, yet devoted ? wife, the soprano Pauline de Ahna. Strauss died two days short of what would have been their 55th wedding anniversary, in September 1949. Pauline followed him less than a year later. Commenting on ‘The Hero's Companion' – the third movement of his avowedly autobiographical tone poem Ein Heldenleben (A Hero's Life) – Strauss told his friend the writer Romain Rolland, “It's my wife I wanted to show. She is very complicated, très femme, a little perverse, a bit of a coquette, never the same twice, different each minute from what she was a minute earlier. ? Nonetheless, Strauss seems to have been contented enough: “my wife is often a little harsh, ? he once said, “but, you know, I need that. ? Pauline was the daughter of a General, which may account for her no-punches-pulled approach to the world – her husband included. In one version of an oft-told story, she threw her score at Strauss during a rehearsal of his first opera Guntram, in which she was singing the female lead, and stormed off stage. Strauss pursued her, followed hot-foot by the leader of the orchestra. A few minutes later, the maestro emerged from his diva's dressing room to announce their engagement to the astonished gentleman. A quarter of a century later, the soprano Lotte Lehmann visited the Strauss's at their home in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. “I often caught a glance or a smile passing between Pauline and her husband, ?, she recalled, “touching in its love and happiness, and I began to sense something of a profound affection between these two human beings, a tie so elemental in strength that none of Pauline's shrewish truculence could ever trouble it seriously. ? Strauss said that no one else sang his songs in as beautiful and touching a way as Pauline did, and certainly her voice was the inspiration behind two of the lieder that bookend their marriage, and this programme: ‘Morgen' (Tomorrow) and ‘Im Abendrot' (At Sunset) – the former a wedding gift, full of hope; the latter a shared reflection on mortality, as an elderly couple, “weary of wandering ?, gaze hand in hand upon the setting sun. Guntram, Op 25 (Act 2, Overture) Hungarian State Orchestra Eve Queler, conductor Morgen (Tomorrow), Op 27 No 4 Soile Isokoski, soprano Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra Marek Janowski, conductor Ein Heldenleben, Op 40 (No 3, Das Helden Gefährtin) Berlin Philharmonic Michel Schwalbé, solo violin Herbert von Karajan, conductor Intermezzo, Op 72 (Act I, Sc 1 “Anna, Anna! Wo bleibt denn nur die dumme Gans? ?) Lucia Popp, soprano (The Wife) Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, baritone (The Husband) Gabriele Fuchs, soprano (Anna) Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra Wolfgang Sawallisch, conductor Symphonia Domestica, Op 53 (2b, Wiegenlied; 3, Adagio) SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg François-Xavier Roth, conductor Four Last Songs, Op posth (No 4, Im Abendrot) Produced by Chris Barstow for BBC Audio Wales & West Donald Macleod explores key figures in Strauss's life. Today, his wife, Pauline de Ahna. Donald Macleod explores key figures in Strauss's life. Today, his 'domineering and difficult, yet devoted' wife, soprano Pauline de Ahna. Their marriage lasted nearly 55 years. | |
| 2024 | 03 | Best Frenemies | 20240703 | All this week, Donald Macleod explores key figures in the life of Richard Strauss. Today he's joined by that other Titan of Austro-German music at the turn of the 20th century, the composer Gustav Mahler, with whom Strauss enjoyed a friendly rivalry – spiked, perhaps, on Mahler's side at least, with a dash of resentment. We get a sense of this resentment from the published recollections of Mahler's wife Alma. She's an at times biased and unreliable witness, but her account of Strauss's behaviour following the first complete performance – at Strauss's instigation – of Mahler's Nietzsche-inspired 3rd Symphony does seem to have the ring of truth about it. She recalled that after the concert, she and Mahler had supper at a small inn: “Strauss, as he passed our table, gave us all his hand in a lordly way and went on, without noticing Mahler's extreme agitation or addressing a single word to him. Mahler took this very much to heart. His spirits sank, and the public acclamation now seemed of no account. ? It's also from Alma that we know about the occasion on which Strauss performed his recently completed opera Salome for them, in a piano shop in Strasbourg, where they had travelled for a music festival. Mahler, who had originally advised Strauss against setting Oscar Wilde's play to music, was completely blown away by it, and his subsequent failure to get the scandalous new work past the Austrian censors was one of the main reasons he eventually resigned his Directorship of the Vienna State Opera and crossed the Atlantic to pursue his career in New York. Mahler's death just a few years later seems to have rekindled for Strauss the flame of an old project – also inspired by the philosophy of Nietzsche. Originally to be called Sunrise, it briefly became The Antichrist, before finally acquiring the name by which we know it today: An Alpine Symphony, reflecting Strauss's love of the spectacular mountain scenery that surrounded him at his home in the Bavarian Alps. Mahler, too, wrested musical inspiration from the mountains. When the conductor Bruno Walter came to visit him at his composing retreat in Steinbach am Attersee during the composition of his 3rd Symphony, the composer said to him: “Don't bother looking at the mountains, I have already composed them into my symphony. ? Salome, Op 54 (“Wie schön ist die Prinzessin Salome heute nacht! ?) Wiesław Ochman, tenor (Narraboth) Heljä Angervo, contralto (Page) Gerd Nienstedt, bass (First Soldier) Kurt Rydl, bass (Second Soldier) Vienna Philharmonic Herbert von Karajan, conductor Symphony No 2 in F minor, Op 12 (2nd mvt, Scherzo) Frankfurter Opern- und Museumorchester Sebastian Weigle, conductor Also sprach Zarathustra, Op 30 (8, The Dance Song; 9. Song of the Night Wanderer) City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra Andris Nelsons, conductor An Alpine Symphony, Op 64 (13, On the Summit; 14, Vision; 15, Mists Rise) Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra Mariss Jansons, conductor Salome, Op 54 (Sc 4, “Ah! Du wolltest mich deinen Mund nicht küssen lassen, Jochanaan! ?) Hildegard Behrens, soprano (Salome) Karl-Walter Böhm, tenor (Herod) Agnes Baltsa, mezzo-soprano (Herodias) Produced by Chris Barstow for BBC Audio Wales & West Donald Macleod explores key figures in Strauss's life. Today, Gustav Mahler. Donald Macleod explores key figures in Strauss's life. Today, Gustav Mahler, with whom Strauss enjoyed a friendly rivalry – spiked, on Mahler's side, with a dash of resentment. | |
| 2024 | 04 | Riding With The Reich | 20240704 | All this week, Donald Macleod explores key figures in the life of Richard Strauss. Today we have an uneasy encounter with the Nazi High Command, with whom the composer enjoyed what was, for some, an uncomfortably close relationship. In January 1933, Adolf Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany. In November of that year, Strauss, one of the most famous and successful composers in the world, and an elder statesman of German music – by then not far off his 70th birthday – was appointed President of the Reichsmusikkammer, the Reich Chamber of Music, the body charged with “keeping music Aryan ?. He seems to have genuinely, if naively, believed that this ‘honour' would put him in a position to influence German musical life for the better (in particular, he wanted to bring about the extension of the term of copyright in Germany from 30 to 50 years after a composer's death, something that was in fact achieved the following year). ‘Keeping music Aryan' involved a number of things – above all the proscription of music by Jewish composers. The work of Jewish librettists was similarly considered beyond the pale, which could only put Strauss on a collision course with the Nazis over his current opera Die Schweigsame Frau, The Silent Woman, for the libretto of which he had chosen a Jewish writer called Stefan Zweig. In view of the developing political situation, Zweig wrote to Strauss offering to withdraw from the project; Strauss wrote back forcefully rejecting Zweig's offer and adding “Who has told you I've become so deeply involved in politics? Because I pose as President of the Reichsmusikkammer? ? The letter was intercepted by the Gestapo and brought to the attention of Hitler. The opera reached the stage in June 1935, but was cancelled after just a few performances. Early the following month, Strauss was forced to resign his presidency of the Reichsmusikkammer, due to “ill health ?. The composer has been criticised for cosying up to the Nazis, but he seems to have genuinely believed that he could manage his relationship with them – as he once said, “I made music under the Kaiser and under Ebert. I'll survive under this lot as well. ? Das Bächlein (The Little Brook), Op 88 No 1 Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, baritone Gerald Moore, piano Die schweigsame Frau (The Silent Woman), Op 80 (Act 1, “Ha! ? “Was ist? ? “Mir fällt etwas ein! ?) Wolfgang Schöne, baritone (Barber) Trudeliese Schmidt, mezzo-soprano (Carlotta) Jeanette Scovotti, soprano (Aminta) Carola Nossek, soprano (Isotta) Klaus Kirte, baritone (Morbio) Werner Haseleu, bass (Vanuzzi) Helmut Berger-Tuna, bass (Farfallo) Eberhard Büchner, tenor (Henry Morosus) Chorus of Dresden State Opera Staatskapelle Dresden Marek Janowski, conductor Friedenstag (Peace Day), Op 81 (extract) Deborah Voight, soprano (Maria) Alfred Reiter, bass (Sergeant-major) Tom Martinsen, tenor (Private soldier) Jochen Kupfer, baritone (Corporal) Albert Dohmen, baritone (Commandant) Jochen Schmeckenbecher, baritone (Officer) Jon Villars, tenor (Mayor) Sami Luttinen, baritone (Bishop) Johan Botha, bass (The Holsteiner) Chor der Staatsoper Dresden Giuseppe Sinopoli, conductor Metamorphosen, study for 23 solo strings, TrV 290 Rudolf Kempe, conductor Produced by Chris Barstow for BBC Audio Wales & West Donald Macleod explores key figures in Strauss's life. Today, the Nazi High Command. Donald Macleod explores key figures in Strauss's life. Today, the Nazi High Command, with whom the composer enjoyed what was, for some, an uncomfortably close relationship. | |
| 2024 | 05 LAST | Dramatis Personae | 20240705 | All this week, Donald Macleod explores key figures in the life of Richard Strauss. Today, we escape the real world to meet some of the larger-than-life fictional characters that populated the world of the composer's imagination. On his 85th birthday – just three months before his death in September 1949 – Strauss was asked to perform something for a short documentary film that was being made about him. Sat at the piano in his villa in Garmisch-Partenkirchen in the Bavarian Alps, built more than 40 years earlier from the proceeds of his opera Salome, the music he played was not something from one of his ‘greatest hits' – Don Juan, Till Eulenspiegel, Der Rosenkavalier or, indeed, Salome. Instead, he chose the closing scene of a relatively recent opera, Daphne, in which the eponymous character rejects the advances of Apollo and is transformed into a laurel tree. According to his family, Strauss became quite obsessed by this music, playing it over and over again towards the end of his life. Daphne was one of the multifarious cast of characters that inhabit the music dramas – whether works of stage or concert hall – that form the backbone of Strauss's life's work. His ability to paint those characters in a single musical gesture and to translate their psychological and emotional states into sound, is what makes his music so compelling. Daphne loves nature, but has no interest in human love. You couldn't say the same of Don Juan, the star of the ground-breaking tone poem that propelled Strauss, at the tender but precocious age of 24, into the international musical limelight. In a letter to the conductor Hans von Bülow written while he was working on the score, Strauss told him that “making music according to the rules of Eduard Hanslick [the foremost music critic of the day] is no longer possible ?, adding that “from now onwards there will be no more beautiful but aimless phase-making, during which the minds of both the composer and the listeners are a complete blank. ? The medieval German trickster who stars in the tone poem Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche, Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks, was another rule-breaker who clearly appealed to Strauss – in fact it's hard to avoid the conclusion that the maverick Till, who gets into a thrilling series of scrapes that culminate in his hanging, is a thinly veiled stand-in for the composer himself. Le bourgeois gentilhomme, Op 60 (3. The Fencing Master) Orpheus Chamber Orchestra Ariadne auf Naxos, Op 60 – Prologue (conclusion) Albert Dohmen, baritone (Music Master) Deborah Voigt, soprano (Prima Donna) Anne Sofie von Otter, mezzo soprano (Composer) Staatskapelle Dresden Giuseppe Sinopoli, conductor Don Juan, Op 20 Chicago Symphony Orchestra Fritz Reiner, conductor Daphne, Op 82 (Transformation scene, ‘Ich komme, ich komme') Lucia Popp, soprano (Daphne) Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra Bernard Haitink, conductor Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche, Op 28 Staatskappelle Dresden Rudolf Kempe, conductor Produced by Chris Barstow for BBC Audio Wales & West Donald Macleod explores key figures in Strauss's life. Today, the characters of his fancy. Donald Macleod explores key figures in Strauss's life. Today, we escape the real world to meet the larger-than-life fictional characters that populated the composer's imagination. |