Music review: New Century Chamber Orchestra Nov 22, 2009
For a hint as to why the New Century Chamber Orchestra continues to garner both praise and loyalty from the Bay Area's canniest music lovers, you need look no further than Thursday's magisterial performance of Richard Strauss' late masterpiece "Metamorphosen.". Images. (San Francisco Chronicle)
Violinist Salerno-Sonnenberg takes to the baton Nov 20, 2009
But from the way Music Director and concertmaster Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg pitched and weaved, reared up in a crouch, grimaced, grinned, pawed back her hair, thumped the floor with her heel, counted out loud through the lush scrim of Richard Strauss' "Metamorphosen" and swiped her bow in midair like a sword, her seat might have been spring-loaded and electrified. "Those da-dahs are starting to sound a little precious," the orchestra's dynamic leader told her cello section, bringing the Strauss... (San Francisco Chronicle -- Entertainment)
Arizona Opera presents 'Salome' Nov 19, 2009
Arizona Opera is presenting Richard Strauss' "Salome" this week, and in it, King Herod lusts incestuously for his 16-year-old stepdaughter (and niece - it's complicated), while she has an erotomaniacal attachment to the stoic John the Baptist, whom Herod has imprisoned. If that were not enough, Salome performs the famous "Dance of the Seven Veils," disrobing to the most erotically charged music in the repertoire. (AZCentral -- Entertainment)
Another Book From Philip Roth About How Much It Stinks To Get Old Nov 16, 2009
Think of Shakespeare's final four plays, , , , and , considered a series because they are all rather chilly and self-consciously theatrical; Beethoven's late string quartets (there were five of them, but never mind); Richard Strauss' Four Last Songs; T.S. Eliot's. The question of late style clearly preoccupies Roth. (Slate)
Wacky opera 'Audition' spotlights local voices Nov 14, 2009
Such as "Little Bo Peep" as it might have been written by Handel (sung by Annie Nilsson), "Humpty Dumpty" as envisioned by the 8-year-old Wagner (Mary Olsen), "I Love Little Pussy" from the pen of Richard Strauss (Liz Millikan), or the entire plot and music of "Aida" abridged to 3 minutes (Hedwig Faber). A nervous non-student (Nancy Guiley) belted out "Resolutions for Singers" to which a costumed Valkyrie (Carolyn Morris) responded with "Resolutions for Critics.". (Anchorage Daily News)
Symphony kicks off season Sunday Nov 10, 2009
Soprano Sara Jakubiak joins the orchestra to perform Four Last Songs by Richard Strauss. The composer s final piece is a setting of four poems three by Hermann Hesse and one by Joseph von Eichendorff for soprano and orchestra. (Hudson Sun, MA)
Susan Graham softens up for Dido Nov 6, 2009
When we spoke by phone recently, Graham, 49, was finishing a run of performances in Richard Strauss' "Der Rosenkavalier" at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, singing Octavian - one of her signature roles - opposite the Marschallin of soprano Rene Fleming. Edo de Waart, with whom Graham was involved for seven years, was conducting, as a last-minute replacement for James Levine. (San Francisco Chronicle -- Entertainment)
Opera Preview: TSO premieres Paulus songs Nov 1, 2009
Richard Strauss was right up there. Benefactor Dr. Helen Schaefer chose two of the Thomas poems Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night and And Death Shall Have No Dominion. (Green Valley News & Sun, AZ)
* Classical DVD and CD Nov 1, 2009
This year marks the 100th anniversary of Richard Strauss devastating, ear-splitting, but also magnificent opera Elektra, a study in hysteria and sexual obsession if ever there was one. To celebrate the occasion, I want to consider a film made long ago, but which in many ways remains unsurpassed even today. (Taipei Times, Taiwan -- Business)
Scalia and Ginsburg Make Opera Debut Oct 27, 2009
The opera by Richard Strauss depicts a serious opera company and a comedic troupe performing at the same time. Copyright 2009 Associated Press. (Law.com)
Opera review: Dancing Salome sets stage afire Oct 21, 2009
Performers who undertake the demanding title role of Richard Strauss' "Salome" come in three categories, the great Austrian soprano Leonie Rysanek once said: Those who can sing it, those who can dance it and those who should be shot. Images. (San Francisco Chronicle)
The Cape Town Opera on tour: I loves you, Porgy Oct 20, 2009
When football s World Cup takes place in South Africa next year, the CTO will stage both a performance of Richard Strauss s Der Rosenkavalier and Africa Song , a musical tribute to Mr Mandela s life and work. The company hopes that the latter, at least, will help to charm the government. (The Economist)
For Boston Chamber Music Society, a season for harmonic progression Oct 16, 2009
A spring concert features music of the Second Vienna School - Schoenberg, Berg, and Webern - as well as works by Mahler, their sometime mentor, and Richard Strauss, their sometime antagonist. This is the kind of music that audiences like ours are supposed to shy away from, Thompson says of that program, until they find out that this is all beautifully Romantic music that s just on the edge of turning into the 20th century. (Boston Globe)
Music review: Contemporary Music Players open Oct 10, 2009
The result, especially in the expansive title song, sounds a little like Richard Strauss at his most heated; Harbison's melodies proceed by wide, emphatic leaps, yet phrasing and tinges of post-Romantic harmonies keep things from sounding too jagged. Later, some delicate rhythms - a peg-legged waltz in "The Balcony," a quick, mechanical figure in "Summer Night" - enliven the proceedings, which fade off into an ethereal tread in the final "Fable.". (San Francisco Chronicle -- Entertainment)
Mozart comedy opens Arizona Opera season Oct 9, 2009
Richard Strauss s Salome is the scheduled Nov. 14-15 production with baritone Greer Grimsley as Jochanaan on the 15th, a role he has sung at the Metropolitan, San Francisco, Vancouver and Berlin operas. The role of Salome will be sung by Nancy Gustafson and Robin Follman. (Green Valley News & Sun, AZ)
Muscatine Symphony Orchestra welcomes guest French horn player Oct 3, 2009
The piece she will perform is Horn Concerto No. 1, written by composer Richard Strauss when he was 19. The Strauss Horn Concerto No. 1 is likely the most popular solo for horn, Langenberg said. (Muscatine Journal, IO)
Youth brings excitement, drama to Symphony Sep 30, 2009
In the second half, the orchestra offered up Johannes Brahms' Hungarian Dances, Richard Strauss' Dance of the Seven Veils and Johann Strauss Jr.'s Emperor Waltzes. While the first and the last were fine, the Dance of the Seven Veils had parts that seemed a bit ragged. (Sioux City Journal, IO)
Cantus starts off community concerts season Sep 18, 2009
Their typical program ranges from art songs to folk songs, from spirituals to Richard Strauss. Cantus' brilliant sound, innovative programming and heartfelt singing have garnered highest praise from critics and audiences alike. (Montana Standard, MT)
A season that honours an inspirational figure Sep 16, 2009
Definitely new - well, newish, since it originated in Munich in 2005 for the Bavarian State Ballet - is Graeme Murphy's three-act ballet The Silver Rose, which will sound familiar to Richard Strauss admirers but which contains not a note of his music. "The Strauss estate was very protective," McAllister said. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Entertainment)
* [THE WEEKENDER] Cloud Gate trilogy brings Chinese characters to life Sep 7, 2009
Set to the music of Gustav Mahler and Richard Strauss, Lament is a beautiful, elegant work that is moving, but not too somber, filled with lots of lovely lifts and a wonderful duet for Sheu and Li. As with their duet in the first piece, Li proved he could more than hold his own with Sheu. (Taipei Times, Taiwan -- World)
Masestro Barenboim Waves His Magic Baton over Vienna Philharmonic Summer Night Concert 2009 on PBS' Great Performances on THIRTEEN Sep 4, 2009
Richard Wagner described the orchestra as being one of the most outstanding in the world, and Richard Strauss summed it all up by saying, All praise for the Vienna Philharmonic reveals itself as an understatement. . (Yahoo! Wire -- Entertainment News)
CDs, DVDs to prepare you for S.F. Opera season Aug 31, 2009
Richard Strauss' landmark one-act opera (opening Oct. 18) has been recorded dozens of times, and listeners tend to have their favorites among them. My own include Birgit Nilsson's powerhouse rendition of the title role under Sir Georg Solti (Decca) and Montserrat Caball's coolly precise account under Erich Leinsdorf (RCA Victor, out of print but not too hard to find). (San Francisco Chronicle -- Entertainment)
Review: Merola finale: stellar evening of song Aug 26, 2009
Hendrix had delivered a plangent, impeccably sustained account of Cornelia's "Priva son d'ogni conforto" from Handel's "Giulio Cesare," and Biller was joined by soprano Lori Guilbeau for an elegant, precise rendition of the Act 1 duet from Richard Strauss' "Arabella." The Berlioz, heartfelt and superbly balanced, only confirmed the evidence of those earlier appearances. But there were other standouts as well in this program, conducted by Antony Walker and staged with understated flair by... (San Francisco Chronicle)
Two Alaska sopranos to perform coming-out recital Aug 23, 2009
Zerbinetta in "Ariadne auf Naxos" and Sophie in "Der Rosenkavalier," both by Richard Strauss ... Some Lute Songs by John Dowland, three early Debussy pieces, an aria from Bellini's "I Capuletti e i Montecchi" as Giulietta, a set by the composer Dominick Argento and, my favorite, some Richard Strauss. (Anchorage Daily News)
Orchestra celebrates Mahler's majesty Aug 21, 2009
A composer prominently represented will be Richard Strauss, another musical creator with a brilliant conducting career to his credit. Strauss is sometimes characterised as unsympathetic and even hostile to Mahler but was, in fact, a lifelong admirer who claimed to keep the score of Mahler's Second Symphony on his piano to remind him how to orchestrate his music. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Entertainment)
Singing The Praises Of A Diva Aug 20, 2009
e Fleming's, its silvery sheen and laser-like high notes won Behrens triumphs in such operas as Richard Strauss' "Salome.". When she sang the role of this teenage princess at the Met in 1990, she was 53 but sounded fresh and looked girlish in fluttering pink silk. (New York Post -- Entertainment)
Nostalgic trip back to postwar Europe Aug 18, 2009
One could scarcely better represent divided postwar Europe than by juxtaposing the compromised romanticism of Richard Strauss, whose scar was metaphorical and psychological, and the uncompromising modernism of Xenakis, whose scar from his days as a resistance fighter was honourable and real. Deeply contested by his early support for the Nazi regime that subsequently rejected and humiliated him, Strauss paradoxically created one of his most sincere works with Metamorphosen. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Entertainment)
Dame Kiri's finale: opera's for the young, if they work at it Aug 14, 2009
She will play the Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier by Richard Strauss, a role she has made her own. In February she will give her penultimate opera performance, playing the Duchess of Krakenthorpa in Donizetti's La Fille du Regiment at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Entertainment)
Dame Kiri 'to retire from opera' Aug 13, 2009
Her last opera performance will be at the Cologne Opera, in Germany, in April 2010, when she plays the Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier by Richard Strauss. However, Dame Kiri said she did not plan to give up singing completely. (BBC News -- Entertainment)
Your best bets for weekend fun Jul 12, 2009
In addition to John Williams theme music from Star Wars, the night includes Holst s The Planets and Richard Strauss Also Sprach Zarathustra (used as the theme music for 2001: A Space Odyssey ). 8 p.m. July 11. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
Mo. arts groups get $650,000 in stimulus Jul 8, 2009
Ken Howard Gregory Dahl as Jokanaan (center) with Eric Margiore as Narraboth (left) and Kelly Kaduce in the title role of Opera Theatre of Saint Louis s 2009 production of Richard Strauss s Salome. Related News. (St. Louis Business Journal, MO)
Show your true colors on July 4 Jul 4, 2009
Other highlights of the afternoon include Jean Sibelius s lush Finlandia and an arrangement of Richard Strauss s best-known waltzes from the comic opera Der Rosenkavalier. Sousa (1854-1932) wrote more than 100 marches, including The Stars and Stripes Forever. (Westerly Sun, RI)
* Free love, at a price Jul 3, 2009
Composers such as Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Richard Strauss and even Wagner himself were all to pay tribute to Georges Bizets originality. The gypsy element, too, proved very alluring to the operas first audiences. (Taipei Times, Taiwan -- Business)
Temple Ner Tamid welcomes all to Hotdog Shabbat Jul 1, 2009
For reservations, please contact Richard Strauss at 978-531-2151 or ritualchair@yahoo. com. (Hamilton Wenham Chronicle, MA)
Schedule for Nine Opera Performances Jun 28, 2009
January 9, 2010: "Der Rosenkavalier," by Richard Strauss. January 16, 2010: "Carmen," by Georges Bizet. (The Pilot Newspaper)
New events, old favorites returning as GBPAC marks 10th anniversary season May 31, 2009
Richard Strauss' adaptation of Oscar Wilde's play has not lost its ability to shock. Set in Biblical times, this erotically charged opera centers on a tangled triangle: the persecuted John the Baptist, a lecherous King Herod and the monarch's pathologically seductive stepdaughter, Salome. (Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier)
Alex Ross: Rediscovering the operas of Francesco Cavalli. May 18, 2009
If he had been able to travel forward in time to meet Richard Strauss, he would probably have recognized a kindred spirit a genius with a knack for the bottom line. I can imagine the moment at which opera for the first time not only entertained audiences but filled them with awe. (New Yorker)
Lullaby and good night: Native pianist Darden delivers fine final performance in Carolinas Apr 6, 2009
The first half of the March 29 performance were classics of Chopin followed by a second half of French and Spanish works, Richard Strauss and selections from Russian composer Rachmaninoff. For an hour and a half, the reflections of happiness, joy, love and sadness carried the listener on the wings of emotion to a world where dreams still live. (Orangeburg Times and Democrat, SC)
Today's Best Bets Apr 4, 2009
The program will include music by Henry Purcell, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Francis Poulenc, Richard Strauss, Marc Blitzstein, Richard Rodgers, William Bolcom and more. Tickets are $18. (Athens Banner-Herald)
Concert group to launch membership drive Apr 3, 2009
Its typical program ranges from art songs to folk songs, from spirituals to Richard Strauss. Boston Brass Friday, Nov. 6, 2009 Boston Brass offers fully memorized concerts featuring original classical and jazz arrangements. (Montana Standard, MT)
Soprano comes home for concert at university Mar 29, 2009
The program will consist of pieces composed by Henry Purcell, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Francis Poulenc, Richard Strauss, Richard Rogers and others. "The Performing Arts Center is a traditional venue and even though we've played in some places where we do 'out there' programming, we thought it would be a good idea to go with a traditional program here," she says. (Athens Banner-Herald)
* [ EVENTS & ENTERTAINMENT ] Mar 27, 2009
On the program are Richard Strauss Suite From Der Rosenkavalier, Burleske for Piano and Orchestra and Eine Alpensinfonie Op. 64. (Taipei Times, Taiwan -- Sports)
Concert is also a food drive Mar 18, 2009
She will be performing the first movement of the "Concerto No. 1 Opus 11" in the key of E flat major by Richard Strauss, for horn. Other songs being performed Sunday include: "Light Cavalry Overture" by Franz Von Suppe and Symphony No. 8 in G Major by Antonin Dvorak. (Bismarck Tribune, ND)
All-Morris program offers silly, sexy and subtle surprise Mar 17, 2009
The music is both baroque and romantic: Richard Strauss' adaptation of keyboard pieces by Couperin. The postures are odd: back leaning forward, head slightly bowed, hands held out thoughtfully, one palm occasionally turning up as though to present the page of a book. (San Francisco Chronicle)
The last concert: George Darden to perform benefit March 29 Mar 5, 2009
Works by the great Polish composer Fr;d;ric Chopin will be highlighted during the first half of the March 29 program, followed by an intermission, with French and Spanish works, a Richard Strauss waltz and selections from Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninoff closing the two-hour performance ... Program: Fr;d;ric Chopin, Richard Strauss, Sergei Rachmaninoff, with French and Spanish works. (Orangeburg Times and Democrat, SC)
Two takes on the silent treatment Feb 8, 2009
From Wednesday's Globe and Mail. February 3, 2009 at 3:54 PM EST. (Globe and Mail -- Entertainment)
A daunting 'Die Ägyptische Helena' Feb 8, 2009
gyptische Helena" ("The Egyptian Helen") is the problem child among the operas by Richard Strauss and Hugo von Hofmannsthal, never gaining the public affection of "Der Rosenkavalier" or "Ariandne auf Naxos. " The problems begin with the title role, which requires a soprano capable of singing Strauss's soaring melodies while plausibly representing the world's most beautiful woman. But coming to grips with Hofmannsthal's libretto - a fanciful confection about Helen of Troy's post-Trojan War... (International Herald Tribune -- Arts)
Great Composers, Lousy Reviews Feb 8, 2009
With the coming of Wagner disciple Richard Strauss, the nausea of critics reached an almost ecstatic climax, after which, with the arrival of Modernism, the profession gradually lost its edge. I mean, what composer today could boast of anything like this: "Strauss has hitherto reveled in the more or less harmonious exploitation of the charnel house, the grave, and the gnawing worm." As for his opera after Oscar Wilde, "There is not a whiff of fresh and healthy air blowing through Salome except... (Slate)
