Blitz und Donner

Little would be known of Strauss’ love for the young composer Olga Smirnitskaya if it were not for his 100 ardent love letters and an extraordinary waltz reflecting their clandestine love affair. From 1856 to 1869, the Russian Railway Company regularly invited Strauss to perform at Pavlovsk, the tsars’ summer residence near St Petersburg. Despite Johann’s ardour, the heady relationship was stymied by Olga’s aristocratic parents, for whom Strauss was merely a penniless Viennese musician.