2. Symphony Concert

Richard Strauss Don Juan. Tone poem Op. 20
Ivan Danko (Composer in Focus) Process for oboe, Wagner tuba, harpsicord and string orchestra
German premiere
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Adagio and Fuge in C minor K 546
Richard Strauss Tod und Verklärung. Tone poem Op. 24

A 25-year-old romantic idealist who, with unbridled self-assurance, made both the sensual pleasures of life and transcendence after death tangible in music: that was Richard Strauss. With his tone poems Don Juan and Death and Transfiguration, he stirred up the music world around 1890. His late-romantic sound paintings caused both enthusiasm and consternation among audiences. A quarter of a century later, Franz Kafka wrote his groundbreaking novel The Trial. Ivan Danko’s composition Process musically captures the bizarrely oppressive atmosphere there. The deliberately Kafkaesque choice of solo instruments by our Composer in Focus, namely oboe, Wagner tuba and harpsichord, contributes to this. Following the successful Prague premiere in 2024 on the 100th anniversary of Kafka’s death, Danko’s Process will be performed for the first time in Germany in Stuttgart. Mozart’s Adagio and Fugue KV 546 is the link between Strauss’ and Danko’s metaphysical questions in this program.