Richard Strauss: Between Romanticism and Resignation Video (DVD)

Richard Strauss: Between Romanticism and Resignation Video(VHS/DVD). "It is a sad time when an artist of my standing has to ask a minister’s lackey what he may compose or have performed," said Richard Strauss. An anti-Nazi at heart, he dared to collaborate with a Jewish composer and librettist, yet still composed the Olympic Hymn for the 1936 Berlin games. This vintage documentary concentrates on the final fifteen years of the composer’s life, exploring the contradictions and compromises of his old age. Rare footage from the Strauss family archives and excerpts from a 1949 cultural film about Strauss provide a fresh view of a successful public figure who found his cultural ideals to be out of tune with the times. (58 minutes)