NSO Strauss 150

Charles T. Downey, Soprano Goerke to the rescue as NSO celebrates Richard Strauss at 150
Washington Post, March 21, 2014

Christoph Eschenbach and the National Symphony Orchestra have marked the 150th anniversary of Richard Strauss’s birthday in grand style. After an outstanding concert performance of “Der Rosenkavalier” two weeks ago, the group is featuring two more of the composer’s operas, “Salome” and “Elektra,” in this week’s concerts, the first heard Thursday night in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall.

Settling on the composer’s most familiar and often-performed operas could be characterized as underwhelming, as could featuring only one tone poem, “Don Juan,” from one of the few composers to distinguish himself equally in symphonic and operatic realms. On the other hand, this program stood out for its focus on themes of desire, disgust, and bloodthirsty violence, oddly woven together as they are in all three of these works. It made for a disturbingly Freudian but ultimately compelling evening. [Continue reading]

National Symphony Orchestra
With Christine Goerke, soprano
Kennedy Center Concert Hall

PREVIOUSLY:
Salome, Washington National Opera, 2010 (D. Voigt)
Salome, National Symphony Orchestra, 2007 (D. Voigt)

SEE ALSO:
Tim Smith, National Symphony offers soaring Strauss program with Eschenbach, Goerke, Relyea (Baltimore Sun, March 24)

James Hepokoski, "Fiery-Pulsed Libertine or Domestic Hero? Strauss's Don Juan Reinvestigated," in Richard Strauss: New Perspectives on the Composer and His Work, ed. Bryan Gilliam