We are barely through Richard Wagner's 200th anniversary, and already, ensembles are gearing up for the sesquicentennial of one of his most famous disciples--Richard Strauss.
The 150th anniversary of his birth (in 1864) will be celebrated throughout Germany, including his hometown of Munich, where the Bavarian State Opera will present a Richard Strauss jubilee concert on June 9, 2014.
If you are planning to be in Deutschland any time during 2014, chances are there will be a concert of Strauss' music happening nearby. Here's an impressive schedule of Strauss-related concerts in Germany, compiled by Augustus Tours, a cultural tour leader in Dresden.
In London, the Philharmonia Orchestra will present a "Strauss 150th Anniversary 2014" series, led by conductors with a personal affinity for Strauss' music, including Christoph von Dohnányi and Lorin Maazel.
That series will end in June, 2014 with a concert featuring Strauss' Four Last Songs, a piece that has historical significance for the Philharmonia.
"As the orchestra that premiered the Four Last Songs, we are also particularly pleased to be marking the 150th anniversary of his birth throughout 2014," said Esa-Pekka Salonen, principal conductor of the Philharmonia.
Wilhelm Furtwängler conducted the première in 1950 with the Philharmonia Orchestra and Kirsten Flagstad, soprano soloist.
Strauss' opera Salome figures prominently on many anniversary programs. It will be performed, in whole or in part, by the Philharmonia Orchestra, the Vienna State Opera, the National Symphony Orchestra and by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at the Ravinia Festival, among others.
In a more cinematic tribute, the New York Philharmonic will perform the score to 2001: A Space Odyssey on September 20 and 21, 2013--while the movie is shown in Avery Fisher Hall.
Stanley Kubrick's film famously opens with music from the Strauss tone poem Also Sprach Zarathustra.
150 years after his birth, Strauss' influence can still be felt not only in concert halls, but on the silver screen, too.
His music influenced an entire generation of German and Viennese composers, many of whom came to the U.S. shortly before World War II, including the great film composer Erich Wolfgang Korngold.
Thanks to the scores of Korngold and Max Steiner and Alfred Newman, echoes of Strauss' tone poems can still be heard in movie theaters today--even this deep into the 21st century.
After all, Alfred Newman was an early teacher of another American film composer. That student's name...John Williams.
