{{ credit }}

Death and Transfiguration

A Century of Strauss at Orchestra Hall

On November 7, 1921, composer Richard Strauss visited Orchestra Hall to conduct the DSO in three of his tone poems written between 1888 and 1895: Don Juan, Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks, and Death and Transfiguration. Detroit News critic Robert Kelly called Strauss “the leader of modern music” and wrote that while the results in the opening work, Don Juan, were exquisite, the program, he wrote, accumulated power with each succeeding work.

The DSO and conductor Juraj Valčuha will once again perform Death and Transfiguration on October 26 and 27 during Orchestra Hall's centennial season. Hear Maestro Valčuha's thoughts on the work and Orchestra Hall in the interview below.

Juraj Valcuha Discusses Strauss
Alt tag for image

At this weekend's performances, you can view Strauss's personal, signed score of Death and Transfiguration from his 1921 visit to Detroit. On loan from the DSO's music library, the score is on display on level 2 of the William Davidson Atrium as part of the DSO's ongoing Orchestra Hall centennial exhibition in partnership with the Detroit Historical Society. 

Read more about the people and music that brought Orchestra Hall to life in the book Destiny: 100 years of Music, Magic, and Community at Orchestra Hall in Detroit, on sale now in Shop @ The Max.

STRAUSS: DEATH AND TRANSFIGURATION 10/26-27