NOSPR / Lawrence Foster / Strauss – Der Rosenkavalier by Strauss, Dg. 05 Juny 2022, De (2022/2022), Director musical Lawrence Foster, NOSPR, Katowice, Poland

Lawrence Foster is very keen on the idea of Sunday symphonic matinees that not only perform an educational role, but also represent a challenge to listeners and performers alike. For the director of the Dresden opera house, it was undoubtedly just such a challenge to master the musical and textual subtleties of Der Rosenkavalier. His efforts proved so fruitless that after just one rehearsal the composer sent a plea for salvation to the director Max Reinhardt – one-third of the creative collective Strauss-Hofmannsthal-Reinhardt. His intervention proved sufficiently effective that the premiere brought the composer his greatest success, with the audience’s interest so great that a special Berlin–Dresden train was put on to transport the hosts of enthusiastic music lovers to and from performances.