Richard Strauss News

Orange County, Calif.—Aug. 28, 2014—Pacific Symphony launches Music Director Carl St.Clair's landmark 25th-anniversary “season of giants” with classical music superstar, violinist Joshua Bell, plus two orchestral showpieces, a West Coast premiere and festivities fit for the grand occasion. Bell returns for his fifth performance with the Symphony (he last performed with the Symphony in May 2010) to celebrate the maestro and captivate audiences with the exciting, breakneck theme and stunning Romanticism of Alexander Glazunov's Violin Concerto. Interview Magazine may have summed up the remarkable violinist's playing best by saying, Bell “does nothing less than tell human beings why they bother to live.” The violinist's artistry is exemplified in his new music directorship of the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, his release of 40 CDs since the age of 18, multiple television appearances and countless accolades.

Few marriages in classical music have been more mused upon than that of Richard and Pauline Strauss. Despite her disappointment with her own musical career, and her famously sharp-tongued barbs that were frequently directed at Strauss himself and remarked upon by the likes of Thomas Beecham and Alma Mahler, the marriage not only endured but was a rock for them both. At Strauss's funeral, Pauline fell to her knees in racking cries. With all the many celebrations of Strauss's 150th anniversary in 2014, ASO music director Leon Botstein shines a light upon this central theme in the composer's life, and in his music.

Anna Netrebko sings her first North American performances of the charismatic villainess of Verdi's Macbeth this season, in starry cast that also includes Željko Lu?i? as Macbeth, Joseph Calleja as Macduff, and René Pape as Banquo. Met Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi will lead all seven performances of the opera, which opens tonight, September 24 in a revival of noted Shakespeare director Adrian Noble's 2007 production. The October 11 matinee performance will launch the ninth season of the Met's Live in HD series when it is transmitted worldwide to more than 2,000 movie theaters in 68 countries around the world.

New York City Ballet's annual Fall Gala will once again celebrate ballet and fashion with a program that will include three world premiere ballets by Justin Peck, Liam Scarlett, and Troy Schumacher, as well as existing works by Peter Martins and Christopher Wheeldon, all featuring costumes designed by an international roster of some of the fashion world's most renowned talents: Thom Browne, Sarah Burton, Valentino Garavani, Carolina Herrera, and Mary Katrantzou. The one- time-only gala evening will take place tonight, September 23, 2014, opening New York City Ballet's four-week Fall Season at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center.

The Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra kicks off Season 70, its 70th Anniversary season, with a celebratory performance at 8:00pm tonight, Saturday September 20 at The Vets, 1 Avenue of the Arts in Providence.

Anna Netrebko sings her first North American performances of the charismatic villainess of Verdi's Macbeth this season, in starry cast that also includes Željko Lu?i? as Macbeth, Joseph Calleja as Macduff, and René Pape as Banquo. Met Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi will lead all seven performances of the opera, which opens September 24 in a revival of noted Shakespeare director Adrian Noble's 2007 production. The October 11 matinee performance will launch the ninth season of the Met's Live in HD series when it is transmitted worldwide to more than 2,000 movie theaters in 68 countries around the world.

The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and Music Director Edo de Waart present Alisa Weilerstein Plays Elgar this weekend, September 19-20, 2014 at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts.

'LACO a la carte,' five intimate, elegant fundraising events presented by the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, pair exclusive musical performances with delectable international cuisine in the spectacular private homes of the Consuls General of Australia, Austria, Finland, France and Germany.

The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra opens the 2014.15 Classics series with Don Giovanni tonight, September 13-14 & 16, 2014, led by Music Director Edo de Waart. This concert production features an international cast alongside the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra for an unforgettable operatic event.

Chicago Opera Theater (COT) presents the Chicago premiere of Ernest Bloch's provocative and rarely-performed 'Macbeth' at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance (205 E. Randolph Drive) tonight, September 13-21, 2014.

On September 20, Maestro Sebastian Lang-Lessing and four-time Grammy® winner Renee Fleming will open the San Antonio Symphony's 75th Anniversary season at The Tobin Center for the Performing Arts. Ms. Fleming wowed the crowds at this year's Super Bowl with her extraordinary rendition of the "The Star-Spangled Banner." She will perform Four Last Songs by Richard Strauss, and music from Canteloube and Delibes, in a concert complemented by sparkling works for orchestra by Strauss and Ravel. The exquisite beauty of Renee Fleming's singing of this glorious music will radiate throughout the hall at the new Tobin Center.

Lyric Opera of Chicago's 60th anniversary season continues with Capriccio, starring Renée Fleming and conducted by Sir Andrew Davis, longtime collaborators in performance and colleagues as Lyric's creative consultant and music director respectively. Richard Strauss's final opera “reunites Renée in a signature role with Sir Andrew, in a lovely production previously seen here in 1994,” says Anthony Freud, Lyric's general director.

The Dallas Opera is proud to present the first of this season'sDallas Opera Perspectives: “When Art and Religion Collide,” a free, in-depth exploration of the role of religion in the creation of both visual and performing arts, including works like The Dallas Opera's second production of the 2014-2015 Season, Salome by Richard Strauss. The panel will also explore how this relationship is evolving in an increasingly interactive, yet balkanized and secular world.

'LACO a la carte,' five intimate, elegant fundraising events presented by the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, pair exclusive musical performances with delectable international cuisine in the spectacular private homes of the Consuls General of Australia, Austria, Finland, France and Germany.

The Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra begins its 2014-15 season on Sept. 13, with a new Associate Conductor, many outstanding guest artists, and collaborations slated with many of the area's leading cultural and educational institutions. A recording project for Naxos will shed light on the works of the little-known French composer Florent Schmitt, and the orchestra will continue its search for a new pops conductor and concertmaster.

On September 19, 20 and 21, the Houston Symphony will kick off its 101st season of classical subscription concerts, the first with Andres Orozco-Estrada as Music Director, in a performance of Rachmaninoff's deeply romantic Piano Concerto No. 2, featuring renowned pianist Andre Watts making his Houston return. Enduringly popular since its 1901 debut, the concerto's themes have found fame in movies such as Brief Encounter, The Seven Year Itch and the popular song 'All by Myself.'

While singing in the cast of Tobias Picker's most recent opera, Dolores Claiborne, which premiered last fall at San Francisco Opera - mezzo-soprano Renée Rapier was impressed by what she witnessed behind the scenes as well as onstage. 'Seeing Tobias's passion and involvement backstage to get things just right was a great experience,' she says. 'He's a composer who really cares about individual voices and how the singers feel about his music.'

MILWAUKEE, WIS. 08/28/2014 – The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and Music Director Edo de Waart present Alisa Weilerstein Plays Elgar on September 19-20, 2014 at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts. The concerts feature Ms. Weilerstein performing Elgar's Cello Concerto in E minor along with Britten's “Four Sea Interludes” from Peter Grimes and Dvorák's Symphony No. 8.

Orange County, Calif.—Aug. 28, 2014—Pacific Symphony launches Music Director Carl St.Clair's landmark 25th-anniversary “season of giants” with classical music superstar, violinist Joshua Bell, plus two orchestral showpieces, a West Coast premiere and festivities fit for the grand occasion. Bell returns for his fifth performance with the Symphony (he last performed with the Symphony in May 2010) to celebrate the maestro and captivate audiences with the exciting, breakneck theme and stunning Romanticism of Alexander Glazunov's Violin Concerto. Interview Magazine may have summed up the remarkable violinist's playing best by saying, Bell “does nothing less than tell human beings why they bother to live.” The violinist's artistry is exemplified in his new music directorship of the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, his release of 40 CDs since the age of 18, multiple television appearances and countless accolades.