by Paul J. Pelkonen
I've loved and admired the music of Richard Strauss ever since I first saw Die Frau Ohne Schatten at the Met. I was 16--and had no idea what was going on in the opera, had no titles and didn't have a word of German. But his music communicated to me instantly and he became a deep favorite.
Other works that he wrote are important to me too...the Alpine Symphony, Ein Heldenleben (with its wonderfully bitchy passage about us music critics) and Metamorphesen. The operas communicate too--and I've seen 12 of the 15 he wrote with Friedenstag on the schedule for next year.
With that said here is some fairly rare video from 1990 of the final scene of Capriccio from the Vienna State Opera with the great Anna Tomowa-Sintow as the Countess Madeleine. This is the same production I once stayed up until 3:30am on a school night in order to press "RECORD." Enjoy.
