Richard Strauss was approaching his 80th birthday when he wrote Capriccio. It was his final contribution to the 20th-century’s catalogue of stage works, and he intended it to be performed at the Salzburg Festival. Working from a charming outline sketch by Stefan Zweig, the poet and librettist of Die schweigsame Frau who had been driven out by the Nazis, Richard Strauss collaborated with his pupil and friend Clemens Krauss to create a highly witty and elaborate late work, which nonetheless disconcerted arts commentators for quite a long time. How could Richard Strauss, in the midst of the WWII’s most brutal disregard for spiritual values, write a work that seemed to serve such an unimportant intellectual game, a genuine piece of ‘art for art’s sake’? Yet it is precisely this sense of artistic thought, relieved of all reality, that gives Capriccio its special place, even within Strauss’ œuvre. This recording from 1985 was an immediate and unequivocal success, due mainly to the part played by Horst Stein and the Vienna Philharmonic, which duly led to numerous accolades in the press. With its markedly intellectual approach and high musical standard, this festival performance drew large audiences to Salzburg over a total of three summers.
