Richard Strauss: Orchestral Songs IV "Winterliebe"

"When you walk out in the evening light, that is the time of a poet's bliss…" Richard Strauss stood at the end of a long tradition of German song, and when he clothed his songs in the glowing colours of a late Romantic orchestra, he gave voice to his soul. In 1994, in Strauss's hometown of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Roberto Abbado and the Munchner Rundfunkorchester presented an unprecedented survey of Strauss's orchestral songs. This film captures some of the finest Straussians of the late 20th century – including Franz Hawlata and the great Bavarian soprano Mechthild Gessendorf – in a programme of favourites and surprises.