The lyric gift that makes Richard Strauss's operatic writing so memorable still bathes these lesser-known works in a Romantic glow. Whether impassioned like the early Violin Sonata, celebratory like Taillefer, the choral ballad on the battle of Hastings, or elegiac like the monumental and haunting Deutsche Motette, they are all distinctly Strauss' own. Four instrumental arrangements from the operas themselves round out a stimulating companion to the 150th celebration of the composer's birth.
CD Listing: CD 1: Taillefer, Op. 52; Wandrers Sturmlied, Op. 14; Die Tageszeiten, Op. 76; Deutsche Motette CD 2: Festliches Präludium, Op.61; Die Göttin im Putzzimmer; Der Abend, Op. 34, No. 1; Guntram, Op. 25 & Prelude; Die Schweigsame Frau, Op. 80 & Potpourri; Die Frau ohne Schatten, Op. 65 & Symphonic Suite CD 3: Violin Sonata, Op. 18; Romanze for cello and orchestra; Ein einsamer Quelle, Op. 9, No. 2, arr. for violin and piano; Der Rosenkavalier, Op. 59 & Waltz, arr. for violin and piano