Search - Arnold Schoenberg, Richard [1] Strauss, Seiji Ozawa :: Strauss: Don Quixote; Schoenberg: Concerto

Conservative music lovers run screaming from the room at the very mention of Schoenberg's name. That's a pity, particularly in the case of this concerto, which is actually a reworking of a Baroque original by Monn. Schoenberg keeps pretty strictly to the original as far as the actual notes are concerned, but he dresses the whole thing up in the wildest, most modernistic orchestration, and the result is hilarious. As a coupling to Strauss's Don Quixote, it almost upstages the larger work, and it's a true "sleeper" in the Yo-Yo Ma discography. Try it--you'll like it! --David Hurwitz