Strauss’ Don Quixote & The Last Knight
OCTOBER 27, 2019
Sunday at 2 PM
Part of the series Sight & Sound, in which conductor and music historian Leon Botstein explores the parallels between orchestral music and the visual arts. A discussion is accompanied by musical excerpts and on-screen artworks, then a full performance and audience Q&A.
Emperor Maximilian I of Austria, known since the 19th century as “the last knight,” was passionate about armor and the trappings and ideals of knighthood. There is no more influential tale of knighthood than Cervantes’ Don Quixote, which inspired Strauss’ “Fantastic Variations on a Theme of Knightly Character.” His musical realization of Quixote’s chivalric journey is both thrilling and moving.
Presented in conjunction with the exhibition The Last Knight: The Art, Armor, and Ambition of Maximilian I, on view at The Metropolitan Museum of Art October 7, 2019–January 5, 2020.