Richard Strauss

Richard Strauss creyó enfrentarse al fin de su carrera como compositor operístico tras la muerte en 1929 de Hugo von Hofmannsthal, su libretista durante años. Pero, en octubre de 1931, gracias a la intervencion de un amigo comun, Stefan Zweig se ofrecio a escribir el libreto de su siguiente opera, y pronto ambos se vieron inmersos en una fertil colaboracion artistica de la que resultaria La mujer silenciosa, estrenada en Dresde en 1935. Este libro recoge sus cuatro años de relacion desde la primera carta, formal y respetuosa, de Zweig al compositor, hasta la ultima de Strauss en diciembre de 1935, interceptada por la Gestapo, en la que, pese a la presion de las autoridades nazis, se negaba a dejar de trabajar con el escritor judio. Un libro de un valor inestimable que documenta el intercambio entre dos grandes artistas de temperamentos opuestos y su lucha por conservar la independencia bajo un regimen totalitario.

This inexpensive edition of Richard Strauss''s Der Rosenkavalier, one of the greatest masterpieces in the operatic repertoire, is reprinted directly from the definitive vocal score prepared by Otto Singer, approved by Strauss, and published by Adolph Furstner in 1911, the year of the opera''s Dresden premiere.Der Rosenkavalier is the Bavarian composer''s most popular operatic work. In his operas, songs, and symphonic poems, the aesthetics of the Romantic movement were to reach their ultimate expression. A radiant and bittersweet celebration of love, the opera was Strauss''s most successful collaboration with the illustrious Austrian poet Hugo von Hofmannsthal, and an immediate sensation.The vocal score consists of the verbal text, the vocal parts, and a reduction for piano of the full orchestral score of the opera, printed in an easy-to-read format, with wide margins, large noteheads, and many other helpful features. Moreover, this edition makes the score available for far less than the cost of any comparable vocal score. Carefully printed and sturdily bound, it will provide a lifetime of pleasurable use by both professional and amateur singers in the study, practice, and performance of the opera.

Un sodalizio artistico, spesso un''alleanza, talvolta una complicita, forse mai una vera amicizia: per oltre vent''anni Hugo von Hofmannsthal e Richard Strauss lavorarono insieme, quasi sempre restando lontani, l''uno in Austria, l''altro in Germania. Nelle loro lettere il poeta viennese e il compositore bavarese si scambiano idee e progetti, ma anche gioie e malumori, incoraggiamenti e rimproveri, disegnando ciascuno un autoritratto segreto e dando uno sfondo ideale alle opere nate dalla loro collaborazione, interrotta nell''estate del 1929 dalla morte improvvisa di Hofmannsthal, che stava lavorando al libretto di Arabella.