Strauss: Don Quixote & Cello Works

Featuring

Vassilis Varvaresos
Ophélie Gaillard
Julien Masmondet
Alexandra Conunova
Dov Scheindlin
Béatrice Uria-Monzon

Czech National Symphony Orchestra
Richard Strauss

Did you know?

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Composition History

The four Lieder, Op. 27, including "Morgen," were a wedding gift from Richard Strauss to the soprano Pauline de Ahna in 1894.

Instruments

Ophélie Gaillard, the cellist on this recording, plays a cello made by Francesco Goffriller in 1737, generously loaned by the CIC.

Composer Biography

Richard Strauss, the composer, wrote the Sonata for Cello and Piano and the Romance for cello and orchestra when he was only 19 years old, both dedicated to cellist Hanuš Wihan.

Notable Performances

Richard Strauss's Don Quixote premiered on March 8, 1898, with Friedrich Grützmacher on cello and Franz Wüllner conducting, and was later performed with Hugo Becker under the composer's direction.

Compositional Technique

In his symphonic poem Don Quixote, Richard Strauss assigns specific solo instruments to represent characters: the cello for Don Quixote, the violin for Dulcinea, and the viola for Sancho Panza.

Recording & Production

This album was recorded by Little Tribeca in two phases: from July 12 to 15, 2017, at the Czech National Symphony Orchestra studio in Prague, and then on January 22, 23, and 31, 2018, in Paris.

Compositional Technique

The symphonic poem Don Quixote uses a theme and variations form, mixing lyricism and humor to narrate the adventures of the errant knight and his squire.