“Brahms was a great admirer of Strauss. Not so long ago, I had a hard time understanding that; like many musicians I found Strauss’ music a bit cheap. This wasn’t the case when I began studying music as a ten year-old and sight-read Strauss Waltzes under the watchful eye of my first private teacher. I liked the music, but the pleasure was short-lived. In the music school where I next studied, it was forbidden to play music by Strauss (or to enjoy anything); Bach and Czerny replaced Strauss on the music desk. The prejudice against Strauss’ ‘unworthy’ music made it impossible for me to appreciate even his orchestral scores. That never-ending little tune, that continuous stretching of the rhythm, that melodramatic way of doing things… it just didn’t appeal to me… Until I undertook the Strauss project with Anima Eterna, a suggestion by Dr. Ulrich Etscheit from Alkor and Bärenreiter Publishers who send me Dr. Michael Rot’s new critical edition. This changed the picture. I discovered more and more good music, great music, brilliant orchestration. In a short time my resistence had disappeared, and I no longer needed convincing… ”
Jos van Immerseel