Re: Ives Concord

[Bradley P Lehman <bpl@umich.edu>]

On Wed, 4 Aug 1999 neil@thump.org wrote:

> I wonder if he ever grew to love the other operas quite so deeply as
> Capriccio for example ? Perhaps he felt a bit like I do that there's
> tranches of wonderful music in Wagner but too many passages which are too
> slow to hold my attention ?

What did GG think of the other relatively minor Strauss operas, for
example Intermezzo (the one about a composer wasting too much time at the
card table, to his wife's chagrin)?  Capriccio at least has a lasting
philosophical question to it, plus it was an ideal Schwarzkopf vehicle.

Or how about the flashier Strauss ballets such as Schlagobers (where the
music is appropriately empty calories)?  There is just *so much* Strauss
that's not at the same level of concentration as Metamorphosen....

Did GG have comments about Strauss' conducting?  Strauss took some
breakneck tempos in the standard Teutonic repertoire, too.

Bradley Lehman ~ http://www-personal.umich.edu/~bpl/ 
Dayton, VA, USA ~ 38.43N+78.98W