Richard Strauss - Also sprach Zarathustra | Semyon Bychkov | WDR Symphony Orchestra

Also sprach Zarathustra op. 30 by Richard Strauss, performed by the WDR Symphony Orchestra under the baton of its then chief conductor Semyon Bychkov on May 16, 1999 in the Cologne Philharmonie. Historical recording from the WDR Klassik archive.
Richard Strauss - Also sprach Zarathustra op. 30
00:00:00 Introduction
00:01:46 Of the backworlders
00:05:44 Of the great longing
00:07:47 Of the joys and passions
00:09:53 The song of the grave
00:12:27 Of science
00:17:20 The convalescent
00:22:24 The dance song
00:30:53 The nightwalker song
WDR Symphony Orchestra
Semyon Bychkov, conductor
► For more on the symphony orchestra, concerts and current livestreams, visit sinfonieorchester.wdr.de
► The WDR Symphony Orchestra on Facebook / wdrsinfonieorchester
○ Introduction to the work
Not exactly immodestly, Richard Strauss processes the main work of the philosopher and philologist Friedrich Nietzsche (1844 - 1900) in his tone poem "Also sprach Zarathustra". Nietzsche reinterpreted Greek mythology and created a doctrine emphasizing this side of the world. Not the world-denying philosophy of Arthur Schopenhauer, but a proud, Dionysian man should become the model of our culture. This one rises above all "backworlders" fleeing into meaning-seeking religions. Nietzsche's writing "Also sprach Zarathustra" (1883) uses a hymnic language. The words are put into the mouth of the ancient Iranian prophet Zoraster (Zarathustra), who lived in the first or second millennium before Christ.
It was actually impossible to set Nietzsche to music, many protested at the time. Strauss proved the opposite. He filtered out the visionary language and the monstrosity of Scripture as an acoustic essence. Even the slow introduction, interpreted by Strauss as a sunrise, with its natural-tone trumpet fanfare lightened from minor to major, has an almost futuristic effect. The composition's nine parts are based on Nietzsche's chapter headings. Strauss makes "Das Tanzlied," a Viennese waltz with an extended violin solo, the work's pinnacle. Despite the pensive ending of this tone poem, the message seems clear: the world belongs not to the doubter, but to man dancing in the here and now. Strauss originally described his "Zarathustra" as "symphonic optimism in fin de siècle form" and dedicated it, with foresight, to "the 20th century." The furious orchestral treatment and the dynamically open form are progressive. "After all, I am a whole fellow," the composer wrote confidently to his wife after the Frankfurt premiere on November 27, 1896. Apparently, he also felt a bit like a Bavarian expression of Nietzsche's image of man.
(Text: Matthias Corvin)

[@nicosuarez6962]

4:39 Did anyone else cry on this part? That's the sound of Heaven!!😢 Bravo for the maestro Bychkov and the Sinfonie-Orchester Köln.

[@WDRKlassik]

🤍 Thank you so much!

[@darioborroni6608]

I cry

[@peterfang51]

This is an excellent performance of the Zarathustra! Well structured, very musical yet plenty exciting when called for. Many thanks for uploading!

[@rolandonavarro3170]

Grandiosa obra maestra de Richard Strauss. Inmejorable interpretación del maestro Bychkov y la WDR Sinfonie Orchester. Bravo 👏

[@fabricefortin8230]

Depuis le CD chez Philips jusqu'aux concerts auxquels j'ai eu la chance d'assister, cette partition semble avoir été écrite pour le maestro Bychkov tant on y retrouve toutes les qualités nécessaires : sens du grandiose, sens du tragique, pulsion dansante, sens de la narration, lyrisme, lisibilité polyphonique, tension formelle jusque dans les silences des dernières mesures... on se demande ce que l'on peut attendre de plus !!!!!

[@jslevenson101]

Brutally beautiful

[@Discovery_and_Change]

0:10 Star Wars | 15:56 Star Wars trumpet | 18:48 2nd movement | 22:23 Star Wars trumpet | 23:03 violin |

[@singyiutse8386]

👏👏👏👏👏👏👍👍👍👍 wonderful.

[@gabrielnavarrodelage]

Me ha encantado esta espléndida versión de Semyon Bychkov

[@nombreuno9320]

Simplemente ¡ Grandioso!

[@jinglx]

From the beginning, I want to watch the conductor and the players, not the ceiling.

[@patriciocorrea7795]

Dulce armonia digna de alabanza engrandese el alma y purifica el espiritu

[@user-su5ic4yw6g]

オーケストラから素晴らしい演奏を引 き出す、現代の最高の指揮者だ。 何回かサインをもらったが、顔は不細 工だけど、格好いいんだよな。

[@WDRKlassik]

ありがとうございました。

[@waitungsiu4949]

pure poems!flying over between olympics and valhallas !

[@shin-i-chikozima]

Strauss holds an unchallenged position as an interpreter of Zarathustra’s soul

[@ciupenhauer]

GOD I love Semyon's grimaces

[@SilvioNobre]

So perfect!

[@2221Max1222]

Als Amateurmusiker würde ich bei diesem Dirigat nie meinen Einsatz finden D Respekt für die, die das können!

[@manuel.roesler]

Als Profimusiker würde ich sagen: das ist gut zu lesen, was er macht. Meine Einsätze stehen ja in den Noten, da braucht es eigentlich keinen Dirigenten für...

[@2221Max1222]

@@manuel.roesler ja, das stimmt natürlich. Als Profi braucht man bei gut einstudierten Stücken doch sowieso fast keinen Dirigenten mehr, oder?

[@mariafelizdolores6363]

Excelente pieza 👏

[@farbodmojri]

👍💐👏👌

[@nurhabibi922]

Is that no. 2 first violin Patricia kopat?

[@WDRKlassik]

Do you mean Patricia Kopatchinskaja? She never played in the WDR Sinfonieorchester, only with the orchestra as a soloist. :)

[@nurhabibi922]

@@WDRKlassik yep, *kopatchinskaja I mean, thanks for the information

[@charakter-etudenjohannesst8121]

It's Aline Champion (now Berlin Philharmonic)

[@WDRKlassik]

Thanks!

[@Quotenwagnerianer]

@@WDRKlassik Not to mention that she had not yet graduated in 1999. ;)

[@abavariannormiepleb9470]

Anybody got experience with Gigapixel AI and the upscaling of video from old TV recordings in 576i? If it can restore a hundred years old footage it should to great with a relatively new concert recording :)

[@anastasiatruman5324]

😚😚😚

[@froehlicherelter]

Excellent gespielt ! Aber im Tempo ist es nach meinem Ermessen zu schnell: Auf der Partitur steht "Sehr Breit", demnach erscheinen die Sechszehntel wie ein "Fehlgriff", bis zur Endkadenz soll es "Immer breiter" werden, aber die meisten Versionen verfehlen dieses Maestoso, leider !

[@WDRKlassik]

Danke 😊 Danke auch für Ihre Meinung! Die Wahl des Tempos liegt im Ermessen der dirigierenden Person. Es ist also natürlich auch Geschmacksfrage, welches Tempo man bevorzugt 😊

[@dion1949]

"Grablied", literally "Grave Song," not "Funeral Song."

[@WDRKlassik]

Thanks for your feedback, we adjusted the English description.

[@musictemporis]

Bravo! Aber meine "Literarische Symphonie" wartet immer auf den Dirigenten, der dieses umfangreichstes symphonisches Werk wach küsst. kzbin.info/www/bejne/bIWUhIp-oZ2tnsU

[@melaniamonicacraciun9900]

Kubrick was right, sounds like Odyssey in Space, the conquest of the true human civilization friends, if not having so many anti human monsters cannibals reptilians predators haters fascist bullies to deal with, but if you bring the music on streets, for another weekend picnic in the park, dreaming for the future, who knows? We hope well