Richard Strauss – Romanticism and Resignation

At the end of his life, Richard Strauss (1864-1949) occupied an ambiguous role in the Third Reich - a successful public figure, but one whose cultural ideals clashed with those enforced by Hitler's regime. This film explores the compromises of his old age, telling the story of the doyen of the late-Romantic style as he became increasingly embittered with his political masters. It includes rare footage from his family's archive and extracts from a film about him made in 1949.