Classic Ross Amico

Tag: Josephslegende

Richard Strauss 150th Anniversary

Richard Strauss, celebrated for his opulent tone poems and decadent operas, described himself as a “first-class second-rate” composer.

This Sunday night on “The Lost Chord,” we mark the 150th anniversary of Strauss’ birth (June 11, 1864), with two of his lesser-heard works, the “Festive Prelude” for large orchestra with organ, written in 1913 for the opening of the Vienna Konzerthaus, and the symphonic fragment from the ballet “Josephslegende” (“The Legend of Joseph”), which I discussed in a Facebook entry on May 14, the work’s centenary.

We’ll also hear the composer’s breakout success, “Don Juan,” in a recording from 1929, with Strauss himself conducting, and a contemporaneous song, “Wie sollten wir geheim sie halten,” Op. 19, No. 4, an ardent expression of clandestine love.

That’s “First Among Seconds,” 150 years of Richard Strauss. This Sunday night at 10 ET, with a repeat Thursday at 11; or you can listen to it later as a webcast at http://www.wwfm.org.

June 7, 2014
Strauss’s Scandalous Joseph Ballet Turns 100

This one is over the top even by Strauss standards.

Today marks the 100th anniversary of the premiere of Richard Strauss’ only full-length ballet, “Josephslegende” (“The Legend of Joseph”), which was first performed at the Paris Opera on this date in 1914.

The biblical story of the attempted seduction of Joseph by Potiphar’s wife was suggested by frequent Strauss librettist Hugo von Hoffmansthal, between their work on “Ariadne auf Naxos” and “Die Frau ohne Schatten.”

Strauss confessed in a letter, “The chaste Joseph himself isn’t all up my street, and if a thing bores me I find it difficult to set it to music. This God-seeker Joseph – he is going to be a hell of an effort!”

Perhaps it was to alleviate his boredom that Strauss bolstered his orchestration with four harps, organ, celesta, glockenspiel, xylophone, large and small cymbals, four pairs of castanets and a double-bass clarinet.

The composer himself conducted the premiere, which ran for seven performances. Vaslav Nijinsky choreographed and danced the lead. Sir Thomas Beecham conducted an additional seven performances in London. He had put up the money for the “Diaghilev” commission. However, with the war looming, Strauss never received his fee.

Follow the link to listen to the rarely-heard complete ballet.

The work also exists as a “symphonic fragment,” in reduced orchestration. But where’s the fun in that?

I must say, I had a blast Google image-searching for paintings of this one. Seemingly everyone painted Joseph and Potiphar’s wife.

PHOTO: “C’mere you!”

May 14, 2014

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