Strauss: The Knight of the Rose

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Image courtesy of L'Auditory

Strauss boldly set himself a genuine feat: to attempt to write opera after Wagner. The deep dramatic instinct and subtle use of psychology that can be denoted in this work, as was also the case of Electra and later Ariadne auf Naxos, are the outcome of one of the most fruitful operatic collaborative initiatives in history, between Strauss and the poet Hugo von Hofmannsthal. In this case, its success confused the critics, when they heard a musical language “from the past”. Waltzes, passions, humour and decadence: the Vienna of Empress Maria Theresa I of Austria conserves all its splendour in this suite for orchestra.

Blancafort stood out for his distinctive hallmark among 20th century Catalan composers. Despite the importance of his works for piano, his orchestral music, which he turned to after the Spanish Civil War, is less well known. His Symphony in E major, premiered by Eduard Toldrà and conspicuous for its clarity and classical forms, was awarded the Premio Ciudad de Barcelona in 1950. It is a work that clearly deserves to go down in the annals of Spain’s symphonic works.

Music for Flute, Strings and Percussion is one of the most important orchestral works by Sofia Gubaidulina. This Russian composer has an amazing capacity to create evocative musical atmospheres and, in this work, she does it with subtlety, using unorthodox techniques and working with dense textures by exploring the timbral quality of the flute, strings and percussion.

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