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Autograph musical manuscript by Richard Strauss for the opening of Der Rosenkavalier, one page, 11.75 x 15.75, titled and signed at the head, "Der Rosencavalier (Komödie für Music), Richard Strauss, op. 59," and signed and inscribed at the conclusion to Jacques Rouché, director of the Paris Opéra and Opéra-Comique, "Meinen verheben Freunde Director Rouché…Richard Strauss, Garmisch, 10 Januar 1937." The large folio manuscript contains the opening 15 measures of Act I, notated in full score on the recto of the first leaf of a bifolium of 32-stave paper. In fine condition, with some light dampstaining at the bottom margin, touching but not adversely affecting the place and date.
Der Rosenkavalier, Strauss’s comic opera in three acts to a libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal, premiered at the Dresden Königliches Opernhaus on January 26, 1911, to immediate success, quickly entering the international repertory. The opera marked one of the supreme achievements of the Strauss-Hofmannsthal partnership, blending sumptuous late-Romantic orchestral writing with conversational wit, psychological nuance, and a nostalgic evocation of 18th-century Vienna. Its opening measures launch the work with unmistakable energy, setting in motion the opera’s world of passion, comedy, memory, and bittersweet renunciation.
The recipient, Jacques Rouché, was an influential French impresario and administrator who directed the Paris Opéra and Opéra-Comique and played a major role in shaping French operatic life in the early 20th century. A magnificent signed presentation manuscript from Der Rosenkavalier, preserving the first 15 measures of one of Strauss’s greatest operas in full score. Autograph material from major Strauss stage works is highly desirable, and this opening page—boldly headed, annotated, signed, dated, and inscribed by the composer—stands as an exceptional artifact from a landmark of 20th-century opera.
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