蜜芽传媒

Donald Macleod explores the life and work of Johann Strauss II, the 鈥渨altz king鈥� as he strives to make it in Vienna, a city whose music scene was dominated by his own father.

In the composer鈥檚 200th anniversary year, Donald Macleod explores the life and work of Johann Strauss II, who became so popular for his operettas and Viennese waltzes that he would be dubbed 鈥淭he Waltz King鈥�. In his time his huge popularity was akin to a pop star or Hollywood film icon today, and his music filled the ballrooms of Europe and America. Over the course of the week, we鈥檒l see how he made his name, and overcame setbacks to become one of the most famous figures in all of Europe.

In Monday鈥檚 episode, Donald explores how Strauss strove to make it in Vienna, a city whose music scene was dominated by, among others, his own father. Despite being discouraged from pursuing a career in music, before the age of 20, Strauss had formed his own orchestra and made his debut appearance in the city. However, he didn鈥檛 have it easy, and was forced to look for work outside of Vienna, with his father鈥檚 popularity far outweighing his own. This despite a scandal which engulfed the elder Strauss, as after a string of affairs, Johann Junior鈥檚 mother instigated divorce proceedings.

Wiener Blut, Op 354
Johann Strauss Orchestra of Vienna
Willi Boskovsky, conductor

Accellerationen Walzer, Op 234
Vienna Philharmonic
Carlos Kleiber, conductor

Pizzicato Polka, Op 449
Estonian National Symphony Orchestra
Neeme Jarvi, conductor

Gunstwerber, Op 4
Berlin Philharmonic
Robert Stolz, conductor

Jugend Traume, Op 12
Slovak State Philharmonic Orchestra
Christian Pollack, conductor

Sangerfahrten, Op 41
Slovak State Philharmonic Orchestra
Alfred Walter, conductor

Kaiser Franz Joseph: I. Rettungs-Jubel-Marsch, Op 126
Vienna Philharmonic
Niklaus Harnoncourt, conductor

Produced by Sam Phillips for 蜜芽传媒 Audio Wales & West