Strauss' italian parody

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Today, we bring you a curious Italian aria hidden in a German opera. In Rosenkavalier, there is a moment where a tenor is sent to sing an Italian serenade to the Marschallin. The music is over-the-top romantic, technically flashy, and totally irrelevant to the plot, it's pure decoration. Strauss takes advantage of this moment to satirize the Italian style of aria by exaggerating its nuances. Is this a homage to the land he visited so often in his life or perhaps an "attack under the guise of a smile?"

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Richard Strauss (1864–1949)

Der Rosenkavalier, Op.59 (1909-1910)
Performance: Giuseppe Zampieri and the Wiener Philharmoniker conducted by Herbert von Karajan at the Salzburg Festival (1962).

Further reading:

Mark-Dan Schmid (Editor). The Richard Strauss Companion. Cambridge University Press, 2010.
Gilliam, Bryan Randolph (Editor). Richard Strauss: New Perspectives on the Composer and His Work. Duke University Press, 1992.
Schuh, Willi. Richard Strauss: Briefe an die Eltern 1882–1906. Zurich
and Freiburg: Atlantis, 1954.

Video made by MomentsMusicaux.