Richard Strauss: Don Quixote - Herbert von Karajan, Berliner Philharmoniker, Mstislav Rostropovich (cello), Ulrich Koch (viola)

Don Quixote, op. 35, is a composition for cello, viola and large orchestra. Subtitled "Phantastische Variationen über ein Thema ritterlichen Charakters" ("Fantastic Variations on a Theme of Knightly Character"), the work is based on the novel Don Quixote de la Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes. Strauss composed this work in Munich in 1897. The premiere took place in Cologne on 8 March 1898, with Friedrich Grützmacher as the cello soloist and Franz Wüllner as the conductor. The score is of 758 measures duration and is written in Sinfonia concertante form, with the solo cello representing Don Quixote, and the solo viola and tenor tuba depicting the comic Sancho Panza. The second variation depicts an episode where Don Quixote encounters a herd of sheep and perceives them as an approaching army. Strauss uses dissonant fluttertonguing in the brass to emulate the bleating of the sheep, an early instance of this extended technique. Strauss later quoted this passage in his music for Le Bourgeois gentilhomme, at the moment a servant announces the dish of "leg of mutton in the Italian style".

Whenever Karajan and Rostropovich teamed up, great things happened. In 1975, they recorded what many still consider the consummate Don Quixote, a richly characterized, brilliantly played account of what is probably Strauss's best tone poem. Rostropovich's command of the solo part is overwhelming, but even more impressive is the imagination he brings to the reading, in particular his identification with the poignant, crazed side of the old knight's character. The Berliners produce a veritable rainbow of orchestral color behind him, and Karajan, as usual, is firmly in control of pacing and balance.
-Ted Libbey (amazon.com)

Date of Recording: 01/1975
Venue: Philharmonie, Berlin, Germany






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