Richard Wagner was a composer who dominated the world of German music for almost a century. Others admitted their fascination with his character, and wagneritis was a disease-like way of describing this obsession. During the concert of the NFM Wrocław Philharmonic, Dima Slobodeniouk will conduct works by Richard Strauss and Anton Bruckner – two artists on whom the author of the Ring of the Nibelungen had a profound influence.

Richard Strauss’s achievements will be represented by two compositions from the antipodes of his work. The one-movement Serenade in E flat major for wind instruments, drawing inspiration from the music of the Classical era, was written in 1881, when the artist was only seventeen. He composed the Concerto No. 2 in E flat major for horn and orchestra in 1942 in Vienna, i.e. in the last phase of his work, when he returned to the music of the Classical era as a source of inspiration. He dedicated his work to the memory of his father, Franz Strauss. Franz was an excellent horn player, a musician of the Munich court orchestra, widely known for his conservative taste – he did not consider Wagner’s works as music, which did not stop him from performing them brilliantly. His artistry was also appreciated by the author of Parsifal, who claimed that Franz Strauss played so beautifully that he was unable to get angry at him for his views! This cheerful three-movement work is a contradiction of the dark times in which it was created, which were also difficult for the aged Richard.

Anton Bruckner’s Symphony No. 3 in D minor is called “Wagner Symphony”. In September 1873, its author met Wagner and showed him the scores of his Symphonies Nos. 2 and 3 (which had not yet been completed), asking him which of them he liked better. Wagner chose The Third, and Bruckner, pleased with this decision, dedicated it to him. The first version of the work contained many quotations, including: from Die Walküre or Tristan und Isolde. It was presented to the Vienna Philharmonic, but the orchestra rejected it as unsuitable for performance. Bruckner thoroughly revised the work and this time it gained acceptance, but bad luck continued to haunt its creator: the conductor Johann von Herbeck, who had agreed to conduct the symphony, died shortly before the concert. His place was taken by the composer, which ended in an absolute disaster. He was a terrible conductor, and the audience, reluctant to him, began to leave the venue before the last bar sounded. The composer shelved the “Wagner Symphony” for several before he prepared its final version. Today, The Third is considered by researchers to be the first of Bruckner’s mature symphonies, and it is eagerly performed by conductors interested in the music of the great Austrian.