Richard Strauss: An Alpine Symphony | Giuseppe Sinopoli and the Staatskapelle Dresden
Музыка
The Staatskapelle Dresden celebrated its 450th anniversary with a concert held on September 22, 1998 in Dresden's Semperoper. For the occasion, Giuseppe Sinopoli (1946-2001) conducted An Alpine Symphony by Richard Strauss (1864 - 1949). The choice of work for the anniversary celebration could not have been more appropriate: Strauss had dedicated his symphony to the time-honored Saxon orchestra, which had previously premiered several of his operas. For the work's 1915 premiere in Berlin, the Staatskapelle was conducted by the composer himself.
An Alpine Symphony, Op. 64 is a remarkable work in many regards. In it, Richard Strauss musically interprets an experience from his own youth. At the age of fifteen, he had been caught in a heavy thunderstorm whilst hiking in the mountains. He wrote to a friend that he had reimagined the event the next day on the piano. Many years later, his memory of the event gave rise to the first sketches for 'Eine Alpensinfonie'. As the title suggests, Strauss initially intended to write a four-movement symphony, but then composed a symphonic poem in one movement. Across 22 musical tableaux, it traces in detail the ascent and descent through the natural setting - with the Alpine Symphony thereby becoming a typical example of program music. The simple and descriptive headings of the stages of the mountain journey, however, should not obscure the fact that the program is more than a mere reflection of nature. In literary history, the ascent of a mountain has always been considered a metaphor for an existential, or even transcendent experience. What's more, until shortly before its completion Strauss was writing An Alpine Symphony the secondary title 'The Antichrist'. This could be seen as an allusion to the book of the same name by Friedrich Nietzsche (1844 - 1900), whose preface states that one “must be accustomed to living on mountain tops.” Strauss - a lifelong admirer of Nietzsche, and having renounced Christianity himself - may thus have understood the direct experience of nature to be an outright repudiation of Christianity. The intensity of the musical journey through the Alps comes not least from the immense orchestral apparatus that Strauss' composition calls for: Over 120 musicians are required to perform the monumental symphonic poem.
Fun fact: Reactions to the premiere of Eine Alpensinfonie were somewhat ambivalent. The great symphonic work was disparagingly referred to as 'cinema music' - all the more astonishing given the fact that cinema, in 1915, was a relatively new phenomenon.
(00:00) Sinopoli is coming on stage
(00:14) Nacht (Night)
(03:59) Sonnenaufgang (Sunrise)
(05:50) Der Anstieg (The Ascent)
(08:10) Eintritt in den Wald (Entry into the Forest)
(13:33) Wanderung neben dem Bache (Wandering by the Brook)
(14:21) Am Wasserfall (At the Waterfall)
(14:36) Erscheinung (Apparition)
(15:20) Auf blumigen Wiesen (On Flowering Meadows)
(16:20) Auf der Alm (On the Alpine Pasture)
(18:35) Durch Dickicht und Gestrüpp auf Irrwegen (Through Thickets and Undergrowth on the Wrong Path)
(20:10) Auf dem Gletscher (On the Glacier)
(21:16) Gefahrvolle Augenblicke (Dangerous Moments)
(22:41) Auf dem Gipfel (On the Summit)
(28:04) Vision (Vision)
(31:19) Nebel steigen auf (Mists Rise)
(31:37) Die Sonne verdüstert sich allmählich (The Sun Gradually Becomes Obscured)
(32:25) Elegie (Elegy)
(34:33) Stille vor dem Sturm (Calm Before the Storm)
(37:55) Gewitter und Sturm, Abstieg (Thunderstorm and Tempest)
(41:37) Sonnenuntergang (Sunset)
(44:37) Ausklang (Quiet Settles / Epilogue)
(51:14) Nacht (Night)
A co-production from MDR, NHK, and EuroArts
© MDR & EuroArts, 1998
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Пікірлер: 47
PERFECTION!!!!! One of the Worlds Greatest orchestras performing fantastic music that is in their blood. Thanks for sharing 👍
@DWClassicalMusic
Жыл бұрын
Our pleasure - we're glad you enjoyed it 😊
@David_Span
Жыл бұрын
How is it "in their blood"? How is genetics a factor here?
RICHARD STRAUSS...THE ABSOLUTE KING OF ORCHESTRATION AND HE ALWAYS WAS AND WILL BE FOREVER!
@jesusperezdemendiguren1815
4 күн бұрын
😅
Bravo 👏 🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹Thank you ❤️
RIP Maestro Giuseppe Sinopoli 🌹
@DWClassicalMusic
Жыл бұрын
🖤
@ronzakrin4966
11 ай бұрын
Not for everyone. I heard this while on the road, in Detroit. I noticed I was not far from the orphanage I grew up in, so I decided to drive there. This came on the radio, CBC. Made the experience all the more real and emotional. Ill never forget it. Couldn't leave the car till it was over. Then, reality.
Thanks for uploading such a great performance. After this concert in Dresden they went to Tokyo to bring this work and I was there. Their performance was one of the most amazing and exciting experiences throughout the entire concerts in my life. The orchestra is known as the one which has been dedicated this work directly by the composer and famous for the first performance in the world. I have more than 40 different performances of this work in CDs. Among them this performance is so unique and it’s impossible for other orchestras to achieve this level of performance in terms of quality of clear sound, wider dynamic range from silence to massive sound and unique change of paces between slow and high speeds which is nothing comparable. The conductor has succeeded in creating every single sound brilliantly from the orchestra which has to be talented and admired.
@DWClassicalMusic
Жыл бұрын
Dear 平原直, thank you for sharing your love for this truly wonderful symphony with us. We are very pleased that we were able to give you such pleasure with it and to awaken such beautiful memories. Best regards from Berlin.
@hornkix
8 ай бұрын
OK but i like also the version of Alan Gilbert with NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester ,a very good sound.
@user-dt8yq1et7w
8 ай бұрын
Dear @hornkix, Thanks for your message. Mr. Alan Gilbert has been appointed to The Principal Guest conductor for Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra (TMSO) and last July he conducted Alpine Symphony with TMSO which was amazed me to remind the historical performance of Sinopoli with Staatskapele Dresden.
@hornkix
8 ай бұрын
@@user-dt8yq1et7w I don t understand why you tell this version of Dresda is historical...because is not ...historical from what point ? Sinopoli ies was a MASTER, but the orchestra has alot of mistakes (horn player..etc ) yes waz a great orchestra...but in this days... no. I respect your opinion , i m an musician , hornplayer....and i heard everything. every sound, so in my opinion the Alan Gilbert - Alpensinfonie with NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester is THE BEST version of ALPENSINFONIE in our days. Fantastic players, amazing sound created.
R.I.P. Maestro Sinopoli you were a great director , also author of the wonderful " Parsifal in Venice " . A great personality who disappeared too soon.
I may not know the anatomy of a symphony...I really enjoyed the soft & mellow parts that comes inbetween, a lot :) Beautiful composition :) I had a great time watching this video :)
Wunderschöne und detaillierte Aufführung dieser spätromantischen und einzigartig konstruierten Sinfonie mit farbenreichen doch perfekt entsprechenden Tönen aller Instrumente. Der intelligente und geniale Dirigent leitet das ausgezeichnete Orchester im gut analysierten Tempo und mit perfekt kalkulierter Dynamik. Das war Giuseppe Sinopoli!
@lohengrin8133
Жыл бұрын
wieso letztlich immer den gleichen Kommentar unter die Videos? Running Gag?
This Symphony is the Greatest in history of Music.
@himmerod9117
3 ай бұрын
it is a symphonic poem, not a symphony😉
So beautiful...!
Fantastic!
Strauss and a Killer Sudoku, very nice way to spend an hour on a cloudy Sunday
@DWClassicalMusic
Жыл бұрын
😃
I'm assuming this was a recording made on videotape instead of film. I know the technology for high definition video on tape was available in 1998, but seeing a live recording from before 2000 in HD still blows my mind sometimes. Either that, or the upscaling is remarkable.
@xapaga1
Жыл бұрын
Aha, an analogue HD format, so to speak. Japan's NHK dumped millions of cash into this "old" tech in the 1990s.
excellent！
exquisito
It's interesting that the beginning and descending theme after Sunrise resemble Verklärte Nacht by A. Schoenberg...
@laurequesada164
9 күн бұрын
Most interesting, indeed. I love how composers quote each other (intentionally or not)
Tuyệt vời!
It is like a fine needle work or painting...
TOP guilty pleasure moment at 40:40
@DWClassicalMusic
Жыл бұрын
😄
It is a pity that Richard Strauss is mainly known only for a few bars of Zarathustra.
@noemiserra3366
Жыл бұрын
Jo el conec per la simfonia alpina
@richardwilliams473
Жыл бұрын
And thanks to 2001 A Space Oddessy film for using his music
@superpolackmike
Жыл бұрын
Ein Heldenleben, Der Rosenkavalier, Sinfonia Domestica, Death and Transfiguration, Wind Symphonies, Horn Concertos.....And on and on and on!! The Man was a Genius and Prolific
@hape3862
Жыл бұрын
@@superpolackmike Don't forget the Lieder! (His finest works in my opinion.)
@Edeskenney
Жыл бұрын
Maybe on Mars.
3:57
Unbelievable.
Maestro, you should not have gone so soon, but Mozart and Schubert died also too soon.
Strauss ist ja vor allen auch als Lieder-Komponist bekannt. Das Stück "Morgen" würde ich da als Einstieg empfehlen.
So Slow! It seems to loose a lot of forward momentum at these tempos.