Did you know that the music of Richard Strauss has been played since the founding of the Residentie Orkest ? Our founder Henri Viotta had a great admiration for him and many great works by Strauss even received their Dutch premiere in The Hague, often quite shortly after the world premiere.

It was therefore only natural that the German composer and conductor should one day come to the court city. In November 1911, he was a guest for no less than ten days during a grand music festival in honor of his compositions. The composer conducted the operas; the symphonic concerts were alternately conducted by Strauss and Viotta. In addition, Strauss performed as accompanying pianist during an evening of songs. Musically, it was a great success. Strauss had admiration and respect for the still young Residentie Orkest which, he said, had performed this large amount of complicated works so well in such a short time.

One of those Dutch premieres by the Residentie Orkest was "Der Rosenkavalier. Soon after its world premiere in January 1911, the opera went all over the world. In the Netherlands, the first performance took place in the Hague Gebouw voor Kunsten & Wetenschappen. The Residentie Orkest was in the pit and the whole thing was conducted by Richard Strauss himself. Afterwards, a photo was taken in which we see Strauss standing, second from the right.

The Suite from this famous opera will be heard on Feb. 14 and 16, 2025.