Richard Strauss
Also known as: Richard Georg Strauss
Biography
Richard Strauss (1864–1949) spent five decisive years in Weimar, from 1889 to 1894, as Kapellmeister at the grand-ducal court theatre. Here the young composer-conductor gave the first performance of his tone poem "Don Juan" in 1889, of Humperdinck's "Hänsel und Gretel" in 1893 and of his own first opera, "Guntram", in 1894; he conducted Wagner uncut, championed Liszt and the music of his own generation, and lifted the court orchestra to a new standard. Weimar is where his fame as a composer began to travel — and where, on the morning of the "Guntram" premiere, he became engaged to the soprano Pauline de Ahna, who sang its heroine that evening.
Kapellmeister at the court theatre, 1889
On 9 September 1889 Strauss took up his post at the Weimar court theatre as second grand-ducal Kapellmeister, after the Danish-born principal Eduard Lassen.[1] He had been appointed Kapellmeister to Grand Duke Carl Alexander that May.[2] He brought youthful energy, idealism and the high technical demands of his own scores to an orchestra whose conductors had divided over Liszt's legacy, and in his years the court orchestra rose markedly in quality.[3]
Wagner uncut, Liszt and the moderns, 1889–1894
The high points of his Weimar work were uncut performances of Wagner's "Tannhäuser", "Lohengrin" and "Tristan und Isolde", the last of them in 1892.[1][2] Around them he built a repertoire of Liszt, Beethoven and Berlioz, of Mozart, Weber, Lortzing and Marschner, and of living composers — Hans Sommer, Alexander Ritter, Felix Mottl and, above all, Engelbert Humperdinck.[1] Liszt's symphonic poems were among his greatest successes as a conductor here.[2]
Don Juan, Macbeth, Death and Transfiguration, 1889–1890
On 11 November 1889 Strauss conducted the first performance of "Don Juan" in Weimar; the tone poem was received with tremendous acclaim and quickly made him internationally known.[2] The Weimar court orchestra also gave the first performances of "Macbeth" — its second version, in Weimar on 3 October 1890 — and of "Death and Transfiguration", completed in Weimar and premiered in Eisenach on 21 June 1890.[3][1] Invitations followed: to lead the Frankfurt Museum concerts in 1890, the New York symphony concerts in 1891 and a Kapellmeister post in Mannheim in 1891.[1]
The Musikverein and the new music, 1890–1894
Liszt had founded the Allgemeiner Deutscher Musikverein in Weimar, and at its gatherings the court orchestra played a leading part with many performances of contemporary works.[3] In 1890, on the proposal of its chairman, the Weimar general intendant Hans Bronsart von Schellendorf, Strauss joined the association's music section, where he worked to bring modern music into its programmes — above all the work of Gustav Mahler.[1]
Recovery in the south, 1892–1893
After a serious pneumonia in 1891 and pleurisy in 1892, Strauss travelled for eight months, from 4 November 1892 to 25 June 1893, through Italy to Greece and Egypt. He returned fully recovered and with most of "Guntram" written.[1]
Hänsel und Gretel, 23 December 1893
On 23 December 1893 Strauss conducted the world premiere of Humperdinck's "Hänsel und Gretel" in Weimar, one of the contemporary works he championed at the court theatre.[1]
Guntram and Pauline de Ahna, 10 May 1894
Strauss had met the soprano Pauline de Ahna in Munich in 1887 and become her teacher, and she followed him to Weimar.[2] On 10 May 1894 he conducted the premiere of his first opera, "Guntram", in Weimar: Pauline, to whom he had become engaged that morning, sang Freihild, and his pupil Heinrich Zeller the demanding title role.[1] The songs of his Op. 27, among them "Cäcilie" and "Heimliche Aufforderung", were written in Weimar and Marquartstein in 1894 as his wedding gift to her; they married in Marquartstein on 10 September 1894.[1]
Bayreuth, Munich and a Weimar return, 1894 and 1940
Summer 1894 took him to Bayreuth, where he conducted at the festival for the first time, "Tannhäuser" with Pauline as Elisabeth, and he left Weimar to become Kapellmeister at the Munich court opera.[2] Weimar kept faith with "Guntram": the revised version Strauss prepared in 1934 had its first performance there on 29 October 1940.[1] The court theatre he knew was later pulled down; its successor on the same site, opened on 11 January 1908, is today's Deutsches Nationaltheater.[4]
Questions visitors ask
- When was Richard Strauss in Weimar?
- From 9 September 1889 to 1894, as second Kapellmeister at the grand-ducal court theatre, after Eduard Lassen. He left in 1894 for Bayreuth and the Munich court opera.
- Which works had their premiere under Strauss in Weimar?
- His tone poem "Don Juan" on 11 November 1889, the second version of "Macbeth" on 3 October 1890, Humperdinck's "Hänsel und Gretel" on 23 December 1893 and his first opera, "Guntram", on 10 May 1894. "Death and Transfiguration", completed in Weimar, was first played by the Weimar court orchestra in Eisenach on 21 June 1890.
- What did Strauss conduct in Weimar?
- Uncut performances of Wagner's "Tannhäuser", "Lohengrin" and "Tristan und Isolde", Liszt's symphonic poems, Beethoven, Berlioz, Mozart, Weber, Lortzing and Marschner, and new music by Humperdinck, Hans Sommer, Alexander Ritter and Felix Mottl.
- Did Strauss meet his wife Pauline de Ahna in Weimar?
- He met her in Munich in 1887 and she followed him to Weimar. They became engaged there on the morning of 10 May 1894, when she sang Freihild in the premiere of "Guntram", and married in Marquartstein on 10 September 1894.
- Is the theatre Strauss conducted in still standing?
- The court theatre of his years was pulled down; the new building that replaced it, opened on 11 January 1908, is today's Deutsches Nationaltheater, home of the Staatskapelle Weimar, the orchestra he conducted.
Sources (4)
- Richard Strauss — Wikipedia, retrieved 12 September 2026
- Richard Strauss — Wikipedia, retrieved 12 September 2026
- Die Staatskapelle Weimar — Deutsches Nationaltheater und Staatskapelle Weimar, retrieved 12 September 2026
- Geschichte — Deutsches Nationaltheater und Staatskapelle Weimar, retrieved 12 September 2026
Notable Works & Achievements
Don Juan
Death and Transfiguration
Macbeth
Guntram
Till Eulenspiegel
Also sprach Zarathustra
Salome
Der Rosenkavalier
Connected Places in Weimar
Theaterplatz 2, 99423 Weimar
The court theatre on this site, predecessor of the building of 1908, was his house from 1889 to 1894, where he premiered "Hänsel und Gretel" in 1893 and his own "Guntram" in 1894.
Historical Context
Second Kapellmeister at the grand-ducal court theatre from 1889 to 1894, where he premiered "Don Juan", "Hänsel und Gretel" and "Guntram".
Goethe died in 1832, and Weimar had to work out what a town does after its golden age. It decided to keep going, and the answer took eighty-six years — the era the Klassik Stiftung Weimar calls the Silver Age. Music replaced literature as the thing Weimar was for, two royal patrons paid for it, and the schools they founded outlived the monarchy that funded them.
Read more about this period →Quick Facts
1864
1949
German
On stage
On stage
Oper · Engelbert Humperdinck
He conducted the world premiere here on 23 December 1893, during his years at the Weimar court theatre.
In Weimar's history
In Weimar's history
One of the most performed operas in the German repertoire was heard for the first time in Weimar, conducted by a 29-year-old assistant Kapellmeister.
He conducted the premiere in his fourth year as the house's second Kapellmeister, a year before the first performance of his own "Guntram" on the same stage.