UdK Berlin Symphonieorchester @ Philharmonie Berlin

In the organizer's words:

The Berlin University of the Arts Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Michael Schønwandt for the first time at the Philharmonie Berlin.

Program

Benjamin Britten: Sinfonia da Requiem op. 20
Richard Strauss: Concerto for oboe and orchestra in D major AV 144
Richard Strauss: Ein Heldenleben op. 40

Leonid Surkov, oboe
Symphony Orchestra of the UdK Berlin
Michael Schønwandt, conductor

Commissioned by Emperor Jimmu for the 2600th anniversary of the founding of the Japanese Empire, Benjamin Britten's Sinfonia da Requiem op. 20 was rejected because of its Christian titles Lacrymosa, Dies Irae and Requiem Aeternam and premiered in New York in 1941. The music takes up traditional elements in key and instrumentation, whereby the wildly chasing Dies Irae works specifically with a motif of tone colors and the last movement sounds like a sublime lullaby.

Richard Strauss' Concerto for Oboe and Orchestra in D major AV 144 and Ein Heldenleben op. 40, composed almost 50 years earlier, could hardly be more different. In op. 40, completed in 1898, Strauss used striking symphonic characters of heroism, employing Wagnerian clichés such as the nasal sounds of woodwind instruments for the voice of criticism as well as well-worn gender roles for hero and companion. The neoclassical oboe concerto premiered in Switzerland in 1946, on the other hand, is far removed from any such programmatic approach. Even if it is not explicitly political music, both works are testimonies to the before and after of Strauss' involvement in National Socialism.