Richard STRAUSS Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme; Intermezzo (Interludes) Melbourne Symphony Orchestra / Michael Halasz Naxos 8.553379

It's a trip to listen to this music after listening to Ariadne aux Naxos for Strauss had scored this music with the same Harlequinese humor and refined delicacy as he had scored Ariadne. Indeed, the original intention to was perform Ariadne preceeded by a performance of Moliere's Le Bourgeous Gentilhomme for which Strauss had provided incidental music. But Araidne in itself is a long evening and theater lovers are not necessarily opera lovers and vice versa. And so Strauss very ingeniously culled this delightful suite from that first performance. The interludes from the opera Intermezzo again show Strauss at his most musically homorous. Both suties are played with refinement and taste by the Melbourne Symphony led by an insightful Michael Holder. .