jmc's classics
I have purchased two new CDs one of them is of Beethoven's First and Second Piano Concertos with Wilhelm Kempff on piano and the Berlin Philharmonic with Ferdinand Leitner. I don't know much about those two individuals It is on the Deutsche Grammophone label. the other is of Richard Strauss' Second Symphony (Opus#13) with his Romance for Cello and Six songs. It is on the Chandos lable with the Royale Scottish National Orchestra conducted by Neeme Jarvi. Raphael Wallifish plays the Cello in the romance.
I have written about Beethoven's first Piano concerto before. Both Beethoven and Strauss could have volumes written about. Richard Strauss wrote two early Symphonies early in his career. He is not known for these two works. He also wrote Symphony Domestica (Opus #530 and his more famous Alpine Symphony (Opus#64) which I have also written about. both of his early symphonies along with his Violin concerto need to be listened to and need to be heard by any classical music enthusiast. He wrote a First Symphony in F which I do not know much about either. Richard Strauss (1864-1949) was born in the Romantic era and died in the early years of TV. He remained mainly romantic. his best known work is Thus Spoke Zarathustra which was used in the Movie 2001 a Space odyssey which I have not seen. I am not in to science fiction. Richard Strauss is known primarily for his tone poems and his operas. He wrote concerti, chamber music and songs and other genres of music. The Second symphony has influence from Beethoven's middle period. Some of this symphony is influenced by Beethoven's Third and Seventh Symphonies. A version of this work has been written for piano duel. I am not in to that form of music. Richard Strauss did conduct this work with the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra in 1935 but any recordings of it are lost. He was also a good conductor and conducted many of his own works. It dates from 1885. His other symphony dates from 1880 when he was only 16! He had completed it after he completed his musical studies. As I had mentioned earlier, his father was also a composer and a French horn player. In fact the senior Strauss was involved in the premier of this work. There are very few recordings of this work. I have only seen one or two on Arkiv Music. There may be some others that are out of print. I also like his Violin concerto which there are also very few works available. I especially like the second movement of the Violin Concerto. I have seen recordings of both works on YouTube. I think that both woks need to be re-examined and performed more. So does the Violin concerto. Most Richard Strauss fans or anybody else will not be disappointed!
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