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Don Quixote, Op. 35 /  Don Juan, Op. 20 / Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche, Op. 28
Richard Strauss

Vasily Petrenko | Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra

Don Quixote, Op. 35 / Don Juan, Op. 20 / Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche, Op. 28

Price: € 19.95
Format: CD
Label: Lawo Classics
UPC: 7090020182063
Catnr: LWC 1184
Release date: 11 October 2019
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Label
Lawo Classics
UPC
7090020182063
Catalogue number
LWC 1184
Release date
11 October 2019

"Vasily Petrenko has set aside the baton for these three Strauss protagonists and unpacked the brush. He portrays his figures with a fine stroke, not merely drawing an image of reality, but revealing their many faces."

Pizzicato, 17-10-2019
Album
Artist(s)
Composer(s)
Press
EN

About the album

It took many hours of rehearsal for the Weimar Orchestra to get its lips and fingers around Richard Strauss’s tone poem "Don Juan" in the Autumn of 1889, even with the benefit of the composer himself in charge. Not much about this music was conventional. Certainly not its opening page. The piece launches, off the beat, with an elusive upward flourish metamorphosing into a string of motifs that spans more than three octaves. It is the libertine Don Juan leaping out in front of us, and the 25-year-old Strauss introducing himself to the world with the piece that would make his name.

Most composers endure a crisis of identity before finding their true voice, but Richard Strauss was forced to do so against the backdrop of a fierce ideological battle. In his twenties, Strauss felt he was stalling: preoccupied by a functionary conducting position at the Munich Court Opera and unsure where his calling as a composer lay following a moderately successful symphony and some promising songs. It was an orchestral violinist, Alexander Ritter, who urged Strauss to explore the genre defying ‘tone poems’ of Franz Liszt, in which wordless orchestral music was used to recount a story.

The score of "Don Juan" covers a great deal in its relatively short span. But Strauss was determined to demonstrate that a large-scale tone poem was capable of pushing orchestral music to its expressive limits. If there was a faint suggestion in Don Juan’s score that the character’s quest for women is also quest for meaning in life, another Don would provide Strauss with the opportunity to explore that idea from multiple angles and with irony thrown in. In 1897, the composer was drawn to Cervantes’ 1605 novel "Don Quixote", which tells of a chivalrous but deluded knight errant setting out to put the world to rights – even inventing a woman, whose hand he will win, to make the enterprise worthwhile.

Though Strauss had the epic philosophical tone poem "Thus Spake Zarathustra" under his belt already, his Spanish tale introduced multiple complications, notably the new level of detail required in recounting handpicked scenarios from a sprawling novel that enters the domain of magical realism. One of Strauss’s solutions was to place the story – his selected segments of it, at least – in the service of what is effectively an extended character portrait. Strauss subtitled his work ‘Fantastical Variations on a Theme of a Knightly Character’. It is a tone poem, a theme with ten variations, and more: with an extensive solo role for cello and more minor supporting roles for solo violin, viola and bass clarinet, it is a solo concerto and a concerto grosso too.

"Don Quixote" was first performed on 8 March 1898 in Cologne, conducted by Franz Wüllner with Friedrich Grützmacher as the soloist. In some ways, it is the most ambitious of Strauss’s tone poems if not the loudest nor grandest. But with Strauss, ambition has a multi-directional trajectory. Two years later he delivered a depiction of another doomed soul, this time one with a far surer idea of himself. "Till Eulenspiegel" is fearless scamp hailing from deep within German folklore. With none of Quixote’s delusions of gallantry and little of Juan’s suave hedonism, Till goes about playing the fool while exposing vice and corruption in German society – perhaps the noblest of all three characters if judged on the moral impetus of his pursuits (his name literally translates as ‘wise mirror’).

Artist(s)

Vasily Petrenko (conductor)

After just one week working with Vasily Petrenko in 2009, the Oslo Philharmonic invited the Russian conductor to be its fifteenth Principal Conductor. At a landmark concert in Oslo on 28 August 2013, Petrenko was inaugurated in his new role conducting Stravinsky’s 'The Rite of Spring'. Vasily Petrenko is one of the most significant and galvanizing musicians alive. He became famous for his transformative work at the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, the oldest orchestra in the United Kingdom, where he refashioned the orchestra’s sound, reconnected the organization to its home city and presided over a huge increase in ticket sales. He quickly came to represent a new generation of conductors ready to combine their uncompromising artistic work with a passion for communication...
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After just one week working with Vasily Petrenko in 2009, the Oslo Philharmonic invited the Russian conductor to be its fifteenth Principal Conductor. At a landmark concert in Oslo on 28 August 2013, Petrenko was inaugurated in his new role conducting Stravinsky’s "The Rite of Spring".
Vasily Petrenko is one of the most significant and galvanizing musicians alive. He became famous for his transformative work at the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, the oldest orchestra in the United Kingdom, where he refashioned the orchestra’s sound, reconnected the organization to its home city and presided over a huge increase in ticket sales. He quickly came to represent a new generation of conductors ready to combine their uncompromising artistic work with a passion for communication and inclusion.
Vasily was born in St Petersburg in 1976 and trained at the city’s famous conservatoire. As a student, he took part in a master-class with Mariss Jansons, the conductor who helped establish the Oslo Philharmonic as one of the great orchestras of the world. After winning a handful of competitions, Vasily became Chief Conductor of the St Petersburg State Academic Symphony Orchestra in 2004 and later principal guest conductor at the city’s Mikhailovsky Theatre.
Vasily is one of the most acclaimed classical recording artists alive and has won numerous accolades for his recordings of Russian repertoire, including two Gramophone awards. In 2017 he received the Gramophone Award "Artist of the Year".
With the Oslo Philharmonic, he has recorded Shostakovich and Szymanowski concertos, "Romeo and Juliet" by Prokofiev, and a major new cycle of orchestral works by Alexander Scriabin, of which this release is the last in the series of three CDs.
Vasily has conducted the London, Sydney, Chicago, Vienna, San Francisco, and NHK Symphony Orchestras as well as the Russian National Orchestra, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France. In February 2018 he made his debut with the Berliner Philharmoniker. He has conducted at the Zurich, Paris and Hamburg Operas and at Glyndebourne.
At Oslo Konserthus, Vasily provides the backbone of the Oslo Philharmonic’s subscription series. He has conducted the orchestra in London, Manchester, Bristol, Birmingham, Berlin, Vienna, Bratislava, Dublin, Paris, Tokyo, Edinburgh, San Sebastian, Santander, Hong Kong and Taipei.


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Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra

On 27 September 1919, a new orchestra took to the stage of the old Logan Hall in Oslo to give its first public concert. Conductor Georg Schnéevoigt presided over thrilling performances of Edvard Grieg’s Piano Concerto and Christian Sinding’s First Symphony. After forty years of making-do, the Norwegian capital had at last got the orchestra it deserved. The Oslo Philharmonic was born. In the eight months that followed, the Oslo Philharmonic gave 135 concerts, most of which sold out. It tackled passionate Mahler, glistening Debussy and thrusting Nielsen. Soon, world famous musicians were coming to conduct it, relishing its youth and enthusiasm. Igor Stravinsky and Maurice Ravel visited Oslo to coach the musicians through brand new music. National broadcaster NRK...
more

On 27 September 1919, a new orchestra took to the stage of the old Logan Hall in Oslo to give its first public concert. Conductor Georg Schnéevoigt presided over thrilling performances of Edvard Grieg’s Piano Concerto and Christian Sinding’s First Symphony. After forty years of making-do, the Norwegian capital had at last got the orchestra it deserved. The Oslo Philharmonic was born. In the eight months that followed, the Oslo Philharmonic gave 135 concerts, most of which sold out. It tackled passionate Mahler, glistening Debussy and thrusting Nielsen. Soon, world famous musicians were coming to conduct it, relishing its youth and enthusiasm. Igor Stravinsky and Maurice Ravel visited Oslo to coach the musicians through brand new music. National broadcaster NRK began to hang microphones at the orchestra’s concerts, transmitting them to the whole of Norway.
Over the next half-century, the Oslo Philharmonic’s reputation grew steadily. Then, in 1979, it changed forever. A young Latvian arrived in Norway, taking the orchestra apart section-by-section, putting it back together a finely tuned machine with a whole new attitude. Under Mariss Jansons, the orchestra became a rival to the great Philharmonics of Vienna, Berlin and New York. It was soon playing everywhere, from Seattle to Salzburg, Lisbon to London. Back home in Oslo, it got a modern, permanent concert hall of its own. In 1986, EMI drew up the largest orchestral contract in its history, ensuring the world would hear the rich, visceral sound of the Oslo Philharmonic.
Three decades after that, the world is still listening. The Oslo Philharmonic retains its spirit of discovery and its reputation for finesse. Under Jukka-Pekka Saraste it cultivated even more the weight and depth that Jansons had instilled; under Chief Conductor Vasily Petrenko, it works at the highest levels of detail and style. Still the orchestra travels the globe, but it has never felt more at home. Its subscription season in Oslo features the best musicians in the business. Outdoor concerts attract tens of thousands; education and outreach programmes connect the orchestra with many hundreds more. In 2019/2020 the thriving city of Oslo will celebrate 100 years of the Oslo Philharmonic, the first-class orchestra it still deserves.


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Composer(s)

Richard Strauss

Richard Georg Strauss was a leading German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras. He is known for his operas, which include Der Rosenkavalier, Elektra, Die Frau ohne Schatten and Salome; his Lieder, especially his  Four Last Songs; his tone poems, including Don Juan, Death and Transfiguration, and An Alpine Symphony; and other instrumental works such as Metamorphosen and his Oboe Concerto. Strauss was also a prominent conductor in Western Europe and the Americas, enjoying quasi-celebrity status as his compositions became standards of orchestral and operatic repertoire. Strauss, along with Gustav Mahler, represents the late flowering of German Romanticism after Richard Wagner, in which pioneering subtleties of orchestration are combined with an advanced harmonic style.
more
Richard Georg Strauss was a leading German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras. He is known for his operas, which include Der Rosenkavalier, Elektra, Die Frau ohne Schatten and Salome; his Lieder, especially his Four Last Songs; his tone poems, including Don Juan, Death and Transfiguration, and An Alpine Symphony; and other instrumental works such as Metamorphosen and his Oboe Concerto. Strauss was also a prominent conductor in Western Europe and the Americas, enjoying quasi-celebrity status as his compositions became standards of orchestral and operatic repertoire.
Strauss, along with Gustav Mahler, represents the late flowering of German Romanticism after Richard Wagner, in which pioneering subtleties of orchestration are combined with an advanced harmonic style.

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Press

Vasily Petrenko has set aside the baton for these three Strauss protagonists and unpacked the brush. He portrays his figures with a fine stroke, not merely drawing an image of reality, but revealing their many faces.
Pizzicato, 17-10-2019

Play album Play album
01.
Don Quixote, Op. 35, TrV 184: Introduction
06:20
(Richard Strauss) Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Vasily Petrenko
02.
Don Quixote, Op. 35, TrV 184: Theme
01:06
(Richard Strauss) Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Vasily Petrenko, Louisa Tuck, Catherine Bullock
03.
Don Quixote, Op. 35, TrV 184: Maggiore
01:08
(Richard Strauss) Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Vasily Petrenko, Louisa Tuck, Catherine Bullock
04.
Don Quixote, Op. 35, TrV 184: Variation I. Das Abenteuer mit den Windmühlen
02:38
(Richard Strauss) Louisa Tuck, Vasily Petrenko, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Catherine Bullock
05.
Don Quixote, Op. 35, TrV 184: Variation II. Der Kampf gegen die Hammelherde
01:44
(Richard Strauss) Louisa Tuck, Vasily Petrenko, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Catherine Bullock
06.
Don Quixote, Op. 35, TrV 184: Variation III. Gespräche zwischen Ritter und Knappe
08:07
(Richard Strauss) Louisa Tuck, Vasily Petrenko, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Catherine Bullock
07.
Don Quixote, Op. 35, TrV 184: Variation IV. Das Abenteuer mit der Prozession von Büßern
01:48
(Richard Strauss) Louisa Tuck, Vasily Petrenko, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Catherine Bullock
08.
Don Quixote, Op. 35, TrV 184: Variation V. Don Quixotes Wacht in der Sommernacht
03:51
(Richard Strauss) Louisa Tuck, Vasily Petrenko, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Catherine Bullock
09.
Don Quixote, Op. 35, TrV 184: Variation VI. Die verzauberte Dulzinea
01:19
(Richard Strauss) Louisa Tuck, Vasily Petrenko, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Catherine Bullock
10.
Don Quixote, Op. 35, TrV 184: Variation VII. Der Ritt durch die Luft
01:10
(Richard Strauss) Louisa Tuck, Vasily Petrenko, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Catherine Bullock
11.
Don Quixote, Op. 35, TrV 184: VIII. Die Fahrt auf dem verzauberten Nachen [Barcarolle]
01:58
(Richard Strauss) Louisa Tuck, Vasily Petrenko, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Catherine Bullock
12.
Don Quixote, Op. 35, TrV 184: Variation IX. Der Kampf gegen die vermeintlichen Zauberer: der Angriff auf die Mönche
01:08
(Richard Strauss) Louisa Tuck, Vasily Petrenko, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Catherine Bullock
13.
Don Quixote, Op. 35, TrV 184: Variation X. Zweikampf mit dem Ritter vom blanken Monde: Heimkehr des geschlagenen Don Quixote
04:28
(Richard Strauss) Louisa Tuck, Vasily Petrenko, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Catherine Bullock
14.
Don Quixote, Op. 35, TrV 184: Finale: Don Quixotes Tod
05:39
(Richard Strauss) Louisa Tuck, Vasily Petrenko, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Catherine Bullock
15.
Don Juan, Op. 20, TrV156
18:22
(Richard Strauss) Vasily Petrenko, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra
16.
Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche, Op. 28, TrV 171
15:32
(Richard Strauss) Vasily Petrenko, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra
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