jmc's classics
When we think of Richard Strauss, usually we do not think of ballet. He is not associated with this genre. However, he did write two ballets: Josephslegende (Opus#63) and Schlagobers (Opus #70). They are not as popular as other ballets or Richard Strauss' tone poems and operas. The most popular ballets were the ones by Tchaikovsky.
Josephslegnde premiered on May 14 1914 in Paris-just before the outbreak of WWl. It is based on the story of Joseph in the Old Testament. The libretto was by Hugo von Hofmannsthal and Graf Kessler. The other Schlagobers (whipped cream) premiered on May 9 1924. Strauss along with conductor Franz Schalk served as co-directors of the Vienna State opera in the 1920's and wanted to revers the fortune of its ballet company. Tis ballet was part of the results. It revolves around the story of children celebrating their confirmation at a Viennese cake shop and confections coming to life. It is reminiscent of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker. I do not own any recordings of either work. It would be difficult for me to make a recommendation of any. there are versions of these works on You Tube. There is classical ballet and a lot of modern ballets
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