“Why the Strauss?” we asked our fabulous soloist Michael Stowe for our Principal Conductor premiere concert. After all, it’s known as one of the most demanding oboe concertos ever written!
He had a great answer: “I have chosen to perform the Strauss concerto as I feel it perfectly demonstrates what the oboe does best: playing beautiful, endless melodies. The concerto was written in 1945 towards the end of Strauss’s life during what is known as his ‘Indian Summer’ of music, where he composed numerous beautiful pieces of music including his Four Last Songs and the Metamorphosen for solo strings, which I feel collectively paint a picture of Strauss’s life as a composer.”
ERSO 