Episodes
| Episode | First Broadcast | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | 20140609 | Richard Strauss was at once a celebrated composer and conductor in the concert hall and at the opera house. This week of programmes marking the 150th anniversary of his birth includes some of Strauss's tone poems and concertos, as well as music by two of the other composers he loved and performed the most, Mozart and Wagner. Presented by John Shea. Strauss: Festmusik der Stadt Wien Locke Brass consortJames Stobart (conductor) 2.15pm Strauss (arr. Franz Hasen怀hrl): Till Eulenspiegel einmal anders! Players of the BBC Symphony Orchestra Wagner: Lohengrin (Prelude to Act I) BBC Philharmonic Sir Edward Downes (conductor) 2.35 pm Mozart: Cos쀀 fan tutte (Overture) BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra Stefan Solyom (conductor) Strauss: Duett-Concertino Sabine Meyer (clarinet) Dag Jensen (bassoon) Gianandrea Noseda (conductor) 3.00 pm Mozart: Symphony No. 39 in E flat, K. 543 NDR Symphony Orchestra Thomas Hengelbrock (conductor) Strauss: Wind Serenade in E flat major, Op.7 Players of the BBC Philharmonic John Storg倀rds (conductor) 3.45 pm Strauss: Don Quixote Timothy Hugh (cello) Lawrence Power (viola) BBC National Orchestra of Wales Fran瀀ois-Xavier Roth (conductor). With John Shea. Strauss: Festmusik der Stadt Wien; Till Eulenspiegel einmal anders! |
| 02 | 20140610 | Equally celebrated as composer and conductor, Richard Strauss was famous for his interpretations of Wagner and Mozart. Today's programme includes Mozart's Sympnony No. 40, the Prelude and Liebestod from Wagner's Tristan und Isolde, and Strauss's own First Horn Concerto and the most successful of his early tone poems, Tod und Verkl䀀rung, recorded last week by Riccardo Chailly and the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. Presented by Verity Sharp Wagner: Prelude and Liebestod (Tristan and Isolde) BBC Philharmonic Sir Edward Downes (conductor) 2.20 pm Richard Strauss: Prelude to Act 1 of Guntram BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra Jun Markl (conductor) Richard Strauss: Winterlied; Spielmannsweise; Pfingsten; Kaferlied (7 Lieder for Chorus) BBC Singers David Hill (conductor) 2.40 Mozart: Symphony No. 40 in G minor, K. 550 NDR Symphony Orchestra Thomas Hengelbrock (conductor) Humperdinck: H䀀nsel und Gretel (Overture) BBC National Orchestra of Wales Grant Llewellyn (conductor) 3.20 Richard Strauss Horn Concerto No. 1 in E flat major, Op.11 Richard Watkins (horn) Andrew Grams (conductor) Richard Strauss: Tod und Verkl䀀rung Riccardo Chailly (conductor). With Verity Sharp. Including Strauss: Guntram (Prelude to Act 1); Three Lieder. |
| 03 | 20140611 | John Toal introduces the Ulster Orchestra conducted by Michael Seal, live from Belfast's Ulster Hall. Barry Douglas is the soloist in Richard Strauss's playful Burleske, a piano concerto in all but name, and Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme is a reinvention of French Baroque keyboard pieces made into a ballet by Strauss. Plus, Verity Sharpe presents Strauss's tone poem Macbeth recorded last month in Amsterdam by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, conducted by Andris Nelsons. Richard Strauss: Burleske Barry Douglas (piano) 2.25pm Richard Strauss: Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme Michael Seal (conductor) Richard Strauss: Macbeth Andris Nelsons (conductor). Live from the Ulster Hall. Strauss: Burleske; Le bourgeois gentilhomme. |
| 04 | 20140613 | Verity Sharp presents the Oboe Concerto - late, post-War Strauss - and a work from the end of the previous century. In the tone poem Ein Heldenleben (A Hero's Life) Strauss outraged his critics by making himself its hero. Ein Heldenleben was dedicated to the Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam and its conductor Willem Mengelberg. Strauss had been impressed by what was then, and still very much is, one of the world's great orchestras. Today's performance of this orchestral tour de force is played by them and their current Chief Conductor Mariss Jansons, recorded at a special concert celebrating their 125-year anniversary Plus music from Strauss's conducting repertoire: Mozart's 'Jupiter' Symphony and the Prelude to Act 1 from Wagner's Parsifal. Wagner: Parsifal (Prelude to Act 1) BBC Philharmonic Sir Edward Downes (conductor) 2.15 pm Strauss: Six songs Liebeshymnus Op 32 No 3 Die Heiligen drei Konige aus Morgenland Op 56 No 6 Fruhlingsfeier Op 56 No 5 Winterliebe Op 48 No 5 Gesang der Apollopriesterin Op 33 No 2 Zueignung Op 10 No 1 Hillevi Martinpelto (soprano) John Storgards (conductor) Mozart: Symphony No. 41 in C, K. 551 (Jupiter) NDR Symphony Orchestra Thomas Hengelbrock (conductor) 3.15 pm Strauss: Oboe Concerto Fran瀀ois Leleux (oboe) BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra Christoph Koenig (conductor) 3.45 pm Strauss: Ein Heldenleben Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Mariss Jansons (conductor). Wagner: Parsifal (Prelude to Act 1). Strauss: Six Songs; Oboe Concerto; Ein Heldenleben. |