Rimsky-Korsakov. Lalo. R. Strauss. Ravel

Following the premiere of his symphonic poem Don Juan the twenty-five year-old conductor Richard Strauss woke up the next day as the greatest conductor in Germany, a worthy heir of Wagner and Liszt. It is true that his patron Cosima Wagner (the widow of one genius and the daughter of another) did not approve of the flippancy of its theme as well as its embodiment. But that doesn’t alter anything: Strauss succeeded in continuing the tradition of Liszt’s symphonic poems and masterfully controlling Wagner’s huge romantic orchestra. Moreover, in his music one can hear light echoes of Venus’ grotto scene in Tannäuser.
It is believed that the source of Richard Wagner’s plot came from a poem by Nikolaus Lenau, the melancholic and trumpeter of “world grief”. In 1844 Lenau began to write his own Don Juan, hopelessly and unrequitedly in love with the wife of his friend. The same year he was admitted to a psychiatric hospital where he ended his days, while only a fragment remains of his last work.
Richard Strauss, “the last Romantic”, always expressed a certain share of irony when dealing with romantic excesses. Perhaps the reference to Lenau was just a joke. Because in this dazzling poem by the young composer the energy bursts forth on every front. The music is sparkling and light and the sense of measure never lets Strauss down – as would later be the case.
Anna Bulycheva