This week your Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra performs two works: a symphony that's close to home and a masterful tone poem inspired by great literature. The program begins with Howard Hanson's Symphony No. 2, The Romantic. Knocked by critics when it was first heard in 1930 as being old-fashioned, it has stayed with us, inspiring John Williams and others decades after its premiere. The second half brings us Richard Strauss' Don Quixote, a rarely played masterpiece that was among Strauss' favorite works.
Cellist Claudio Bohorquez, who will musically represent Don Quixote, and RPO Music Director Andreas Delfs came to our studios to talk about the link between the two pieces, what makes Hanson's symphony so quintessentially American, and why a tale told four centuries ago still resonates today. Beer may have been mentioned, too.
