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Which are the five greatest works by Richard Strauss in your opinion?

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Which are the five greatest works by Richard Strauss in your opinion?

2991 Views 65 Replies 37 Participants Last post by  Phil loves classical, 
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The works are ordered more or less chronologically. Define "greatest" as you wish. If you choose Other(s), please tell us here in the comments section which work(s) you had in mind.

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Neo Romanza
Why, oh why, oh why must you torture me so! ;) Strauss is one of my absolute favorite composers, so, ideally, no list at all would be ideal. But, just for fun, here are my picks: Tod und Verklärung, Eine Alpensinfonie, Elektra, Der Rosenkavalier and Vier letzte Lieder. There...are you happy now?!?!? :D
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Neo Romanza
mbhaub said:
I have to admit that having listened to classical music for 60 years, and having heard practically everything of Strauss, having sat through several of the operas live, and playing some of the music there is something about his music that I just don't get - it has never seemed essential, loveable or sometimes even likeable. Maybe 2023 needs to be my Straussjarhe. Go through his music again, read a biography or two, and try to find out what I've been missing. So many people are enthralled with his music that I fully admit that my blind spot has been there too long. I'll get back to you in December 2023.
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Besides you, I know several veteran classical listeners who have no affinity for Strauss. If you feel like you're not missing anything, then there's no reason to force yourself to like a composer with whom you have remained indifferent to for such a long time.
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Neo Romanza
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ScottK said:
I didn't want to put just operas because I love his other stuff and wanted it represented....and wish he had written full symphonies... so:

FAVORITES by the way....wouldn't know where to start rating 4 songs vs Frau Ohne Schatten:

Rosenkavalier
Death and Transfiguration
Ariadne
Four Last Songs
Frau Ohne Schatten

Just today I heard a beautiful movement from the violin sonata in a student recital...gorgeous!
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Some great choices there, @ScottK. The Violin Sonata is a gorgeous work and it deserves to be recorded more often, IMHO.

Here are my two favorite recordings of it:

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Neo Romanza
Waehnen said:
My choices:

Also Sprach Zarathustra
Eine Alpensinfonie
Vier Letzte Lieder
Horn Concerto no. 2
Metamorphosen

I am not a great fan of Richard Strauss although I respect his craftsmanship a lot. In general, Mahler was a lot deeper, Bruckner more noble, Wagner the superior opera composer. Strauss has always sounded somewhat bourgeois and rather shallow to me.

The works I listed are masterpieces, though.
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One of the great known facts about Strauss was that a lot of his music was written with a smile behind it. He had a great sense of humor and it was actually his dream to be an operetta composer. There are moments in many of his works, however, that show genuine emotion. I'm thinking here of the last movement of Ein Heldenleben when there is a theme that comes with the strings and it just melts my heart. The Adagio from Symphonia Domestica is another just beautiful moment. Another moment that breaks my heart when I hear it is the last two minutes (or so) of the first movement from his Horn Concerto No. 2 where there's this emotional sigh from the horn and the orchestral accompaniment is absolutely exquisite. There are also moments in several of his operas where "the mask comes off" so to speak. I think it's all too easy to level a criticism about his music like "shallow" or whatever, but more familiarity with his music reveals that he could be as emotionally deep as any of the great composers that have proceeded or succeeded him.
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Neo Romanza
Waehnen said:
I am sure there is more depth to Strauss than I have so far witnessed. Like you have said yourself quite often, if a composer doesn´t click, why bother. For me Strauss is such a case. For example many of the happy tone poems sound so merry that I just do not care for them. Nevertheless, I consider the works I listed wonderful and deep enough.

So I am only saying what I think at this moment. I do not claim to possess any kind of truth on the matter.

(When it comes to Mahler on the other hand, despite my certain reservations, I have been motivated to listen to the music from the very beginning. So in that sense, Mahler certainly clicks.)
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Mahler and Strauss, for this listener, are on an equal plateau. Both composers are in my 'Top 5', so, obviously, I'm going to defend his music or, at the very least, provide someone who doesn't quite like his music with another perspective. But I certainly understand your sentiments about Strauss and there are many composers whom so many love that I do not as well. That's the beauty of this music is that we all hear things differently and that's great.
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Neo Romanza
annaw said:
Eine Alpensinfonie, Ein Heldenleben, Der Rosenkavalier, Also sprach Zarathustra, and Vier Letzte Lieder are my favourites, although the favorite tone poems (except, Eine Alpensinfonie) also constantly keep changing.

I absolutely love the recording of the Four Last Songs with Schwarzkopf/Szell though :) . A wonderful recording! And Karajan is excellent with almost anything Strauss.
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The recording with Schwarzkopf and Szell of the Vier letzte Lieder (plus other orchesterlieder) is magnificent. A desert island disc for me! And, yes, Strauss + Karajan = :love:.
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Neo Romanza
HenryPenfold said:
I've edited my post because it looks weird in English, so I've put the titles in their proper German.

Shame I had to leave out Don Juan and Till Eulenslpiegels Lustige Streiche

1. Ein Heldenleben
2. Vier Letze Lieder
3. Elektra
3. Salome
5. Tod und Verklärung

Favourite recordings:

1. Any one of the Karajan BPO performances
2. Karajan Janowitz BPO, closely followed by: HvK/Anna Tomowa-Sintow/BPO and Lucia Pop/Tennstedt/LPO
3. Sawallisch/Eva Marton (Elektra)
3. Culshaw/Solti/Nilsson (Salome)
5. Karajan BPO DG 1973 analogue (listened to Vasily Petrenko, Oslo Philharmonic via Qobuz streaming this morning and was blown away)
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Have you heard Celibidache's performance of Tod und Verklärung? It is magnificent! Another favorite of mine would be Tennstedt/LPO (coupled with one of my favorite Vier letzte Lieder performances with Lucia Popp).
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Neo Romanza
haziz said:
1. Horn Concerto No. 1
2. The first 30 seconds of Thus Spake Zarathustra. The rest of the composition seems to last 5 hours and bores me to tears.

And that's about it, or at least what I can think of at this moment. Not a big fan overall.
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Wow...okay, thanks for stopping by! A shame you even bothered with a list at all, especially since you, by your own admission, have no affinity for the composer at all. o_O
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Neo Romanza
haziz said:
I went back yesterday and re-listened to his second Horn Concerto. I would also add that to the list to accompany the first, but you are right, I have little affinity for Richard Strauss' music.
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His Horn Concerto No. 2 is my favorite of the two. It was dedicated to the memory of his father (who played horn with the Munich Court Opera and was also a professor if memory serves me correctly). It's a gorgeous work and features one of those "unmasking" moments in Strauss' music. This moment occurs towards the end of the first movement --- so poignant.
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Simplicissimus said:
Richard Strauss was my gateway into modern classical music. When I was in my late adolescence, familiar only with Early, Baroque, Classical, and Romantic music, I found Strauss very challenging. The first of his works that really grabbed me was the Sinfonia Domestica, which now seems to me to be one of his lightest and most accessible works. Some critics even call it lowbrow, but I still like it. My other favorites are Don Juan, Tod und Verklärung, Eine Alpensinfonie, and Vier letzte Lieder.
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Critics were especially dismissive on the inspiration behind Sinfonia Domestica. A symphony that depicted the everyday life of the composer through his family was beyond self-indulgent to them. I personally think the idea behind this work was meant in a more self-effacing and humorous way than anything self-indulgent or egotistical. It's a fine work --- do you have a favorite performance of it? I always seem to go back to Zubin Mehta and the LA Philharmonic's performance on Decca, but I also love the Maazel/Wiener Philharmoniker performance on DG. Of the newer recordings, I like Marek Janowski with the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin on Pentatone.
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Simplicissimus said:
My favorite recording is the 1956 Reiner/CSO which I have on SACD. It's a remastering from the RCA Living Stereo recording. I also like the 2012 recording of a live performance by Sebastian Weigle leading the Frankfurter Opern- und Museumsorchester (Oehms Classics). I haven't listened to the three recordings you mentioned, but I look forward to doing so.
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Reiner's is quite good, indeed. Don't forget about Szell's with The Cleveland Orchestra. Like Reiner, Szell was an outstanding Straussian. I just wish Szell had committed himself to recording some of operas. My head is exploding just thinking about Szell conducting Der Rosenkavalier for example (my favorite Strauss opera).
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