Wagner and Strauss

Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss: two giants who comprise the absolute zenith of German Romanticism. In addition, Strauss was a great admirer of Wagner. The opera Tristan and Isolde in particular made an indelible impression on him, which is easy to understand. The music in the famous prelude, which is often performed together with the final scene, Isolde’s Liebestod, floats weightlessly forward without ever needing to touch the ground. The chord that creates the effect was a harmonic innovation that revolutionized music, and is also known as the Tristan chord.

The Master-Singers of Nuremberg, Wagner’s only comic opera is different from Tristan and Isolde, and it is the story of ordinary people rather than gods, heroes and giants. The prelude bulges with majestic force and also contains a wink to the seventeenth century in which the opera’s action plays out.

Richard Strauss is the obvious prominent figure of the symphonic poem. In Tod und Verklärung he portrays a lonely man who struggles with death and recalls experiences from the life he has lived. The slow introduction depicts a sickbed; the second movement’s stormy allegro describes the artist’s feverish struggle with death. Life flashes by in the third movement, before the enhanced clarity of the final movement brings ultimate redemption.

At this evening's concert we will also hear Strauss’ Concerto for Oboe and Orchestra with François Leleux, considered by many to be the world’s foremost oboist.

In parallel with a successful career as an alto vocalist, French Nathalie Stutzmann has recently garnered increasing attention as a conductor. She has led the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra on several occasions and is represented with concert videos on the web channel KonserthusetPlay.

KonserthusetPlay – Ravel Menuet antique & Une barque sur l'ocean!
With superb finesse and imagination, Maurice Ravel puts the orchestra’s entire potential for sound to use in these two short pieces. We can hear this ourselves as French Nathalie Stutzmann leads the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra in this concert video. Listen

KonserthusetPlay – Ravel La Valse!
Maurice Ravel’s ingenious, dramatic and humorous La valse is a tribute to the waltz and to Johan Strauss II. In this concert video, we experience the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of French conductor Nathalie Stutzmann. Listen

KonserthusetPlay – Bizet L'arlésienne suites!
With her parallel careers as a vocal soloist and orchestral leader, French conductor and vocalist Nathalie Stutzmann is an extraordinary musical personality. Here she leads the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra in both of Georges Bizet’s L’Arlésienne suites. Listen