Symphony Concert: Rosenkavalier Enigma

Edward Elgar (1857–1934)
Enigma, Variations on an Original Theme, Op. 36

Richard Strauss (1864 – 1949)
Der Rosenkavalier, Suite for Orchestra from the opera of the same name, TrV 227d
Four Last Songs for high voice and orchestra, TrV 296

Richard Strauss’ tongue-in-cheek waltz comedy meets his musical farewell. And Edward Elgar poses a great riddle for the audience. With his Enigma-Variationen, Elgar created 14 character pieces for orchestra in which he musically portrayed people from his circle. The underlying theme is said to be the counterpoint to a popular melody, which Elgar, however, never published.

The inspiration for Richard Strauss’ Rosenkavalier-Suite, on the other hand, is quite clearly to be found in the absurdly amorous entanglements of his operatic source material, namely as an ironically fractured homage to the Viennese waltz and the three-quarter time signature. In contrast, there are the Vier letzten Lieder, which Strauss composed at the end of his life. The settings of poems by Hermann Hesse and Joseph von Eichendorff are permeated by a meditative mood of farewell – death appears here as a transcendent redemption.

Jonathan Nott, one of the most versatile and distinguished conductors of our time, will be conducting the Deutsche Oper Berlin orchestra for the first time. While he shares his native England with Elgar, Strauss is his musical home. The soloist, Corinne Winters, is considered one of the world’s foremost interpreters of Janáček. She will also be appearing at Deutsche Oper Berlin this season as Mimì.