Day 109
Strauss (Eduard): Dances
Helenen Quadrille op 14
Daniel Barenboim
Mit Chic
Zubin Mehta
Gruss An Prague
Riccardo Muti
Elektrisch
Maazel, Lorin
Mit Damph
Zubin Mehta
Vienna Philharmonic
Eduard Strauss was the son of Johann I and brother of Johann II and Joseph. He was mainly known as a conductor and administrator of the family orchestra but was also a composer. For reasons which are not clear he destroyed a large part of the family archive in a fire.
Most of his output is of very short pieces like quadrilles and polkas rather than the extended waltz sequences of his brothers. The first of my five pieces today is just a rehash of tunes from Offenbach’s Le Belle Hélène but the others are (as far as I can see) wholly original. I found them charming with just enough individual touches to lift them about the commonplace. Elektrisch was particularly enjoyable.
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