If you've never heard of Richard Strauss' opera Der Rosenkavalier, where have you been? This opera could be considered the early 20th Century counterpart to Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro. And it's not hard to see why; you've got a lonely noblewoman, a teenage boy with the hots for said noblewoman, you have the pretty teenage girl whom the boy ends up with in the end, and you've got the lascivious baritone character. And there are all sorts of crazy deceptions and shenanigans before it gets cleared at the end.
Despite their parallels Rosenkavalier and Fiagro are two entirely different pieces. Besides the obvious musical differences, Figaro is a wacky and lighthearted rom com with the lascivious Count recognizing that he messed up and reconciling with his wife. Rosenkavalier by contrast is a more sophisticated piece with a lot of bittersweet elements relating to the Marschallin and the passing of time.
Today's performance of Der Rosenkavalier featured soprano Renee Flemming and mezzo-soprano Elīna Garanča in their final performances of their signature roles or the
Marschallin and her teenage lover the Count Octavian. Soprano Erin Morley was the Fraulein Sophie von Faninal, the sixteen-year-old girl who falls in love with Octavian. And baritone Günther Groissböck was licentious and overbearing Baron Ochs (with a name like that, what do you expect?).
The plot has many twists and turns so I'm going to give a very basic synopsis. The thirty two-year-old Marschallin has been carrying on an affair with the seventeen-year-old Count Octavian for some time. However, the Marschallin knows the affair will not last much longer because she is already married and fifteen years older than Octavian. When the boorish Baron Ochs comes to talk about his engagement to the young and pretty Sophie von Faninal, the Marschallin sends Octavian to deliver the traditional gift of a silver rose to the bride-to-be. Octavian does this willingly, but when he sees Sophie for the first time, he falls instantly in love with her. Horrified at the prospect of Sophie marrying a creep like Ochs, Octavian becomes determined to protect her at all costs. And a lot of wild and crazy hijinks ensue before the final trio.
This new production updated the setting from the mid-18th Century to the year 1910 (the year the opera first premiered). The idea behind the production was the theme of time passing. In 1910 the Austro-Hungarian Empire was in its final days, and political tensions throughout Europe were sowing the seeds of World War I. It's as if the production is saying that the world of Marschallin and Octavian is going to get blown away by bloody carnage in four short years (yikes!).
Act 1 is in the Marschallin's spacious bedchamber with it's various antechambers and mid-19th Century architecture. Footmen open and close each of the double doors in almost perfect unison whenever someone enters or leaves. At one point the Marschallin recieves guests in the room, including an Italian tenor (performed in this production by Matthew Polenzani channeling Enrico Caruso).
Act 2 takes place in Herr von Faninal's much more spartan house with grey walls and an ancient Greek battle scene adorning the upper wall. And von Faninal somehow has enough money and egotism to have two massive anti-aircraft guns in his living room. Patient servants struggle to put the finishing touches on Sophie's wedding dress while she's fidgeting excitedly waiting for her bridegroom. The baron's soldiers drink and brawl while von Faninal's majordomo tired to stop their rowdy behavior.
And then Act 3 is set in an overly decorated brothel, complete with slightly dim lighting and borderline nauseating 19th Century erotic pictures. Prostitutes in little more than bodices and stockings revel with soldiers in full uniform. A proprietor who looks like the great-grandfather of Dr. Frank N. Furter from The Rocky Horror Picture Show (and is just as creepy I might add), assists Octavian who wants to teach Ochs a lesson. "Apparitions" in the form of half naked men randomly walking in and out of the room and nightmare fuel/brain bleach images of dancing harlots frighten the Baron (and me).
Renee Flemming fits the role of the Marschallin like a glove. This is the only time I will ever see her perform the role, but she was superb. And while the Marschallin doesn't appear much (she dominates Act 1, but is absent in Act 2 and only appears toward the end of Act 3), her character is very rich and layered. And Flemming knows how to bring out the range of emotions very well. In Act 1 in particular, the Marschallin's mood shifts between happy, sad, annoyed, nervous,amused, delighted, it's no wonder that Flemming calls the role demanding. The Marschallin is married, but her husband is away at war much of the time, and so she's desperately lonely. This may explain her consuming obsession with time and fear of growing old. But she also knows that Octavian will leave her for a girl closer in age to him, and that it will be better for both of them if their love affair ends. And it does in a glorious trio.
This is the third time I have seen Elīna Garanča Live in HD. This is also her last performance as Octavian. This role is a very demanding role for mezzo because there is a lot of music, and Richard Strauss' music isn't the easiest to sing. But Garanča nailed this role. She is very convincing as a boy, although it was easier to believe she was a boy playing a girl in Act 1 than in act 3. While Octavian has frequently been compared to the page boy Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro, his character is vastly different. Unlike Cherubino, Octavian is a nobleman. While he is a hormonal seventeen-year-old boy who wants to live in the now, he now has more responsibilities and needs to grow up. From the looks of it, Octavian's father must have died because otherwise he wouldn't have the title of Count already.
Erin Morley is a relatively new performer whom I have only just heard recently. She was very good as Sophie, although I am getting tired of the popular trope of making heroines feisty. But that minor annoyance didn't mean that I hated Morley's performance. In fact, she was splendid. Even if Sophie is not as big a role as Octavian, it's still demanding and requires someone like Morley to handle the music and acting. Sophie sticks up for herself when she says that she won't marry a man who doesn't love her. It should be worth noting that Sophie is initially enthusiastic about the marriage until Ochs himself shows up. And when he starts examining her like a prize mare instead of properly kissing her hand when he meets her, that's when she protests.
And now we come to Günther Groissböck as the Baron Ochs. Along with Octavian, this role is a very demanding one. Not only does the baron have a huge range (low E flat to high G sharp), but this production really amped up the physical action. Ochs is a boor, a creep, and treats everyone around him like dirt, even those he considers his equals. Devoid of empathy and tenderness, he brags about his engagement to the Marschallin while harassing the disguised Octavian, only wants Sophie because of her father's bank account, and acts like he's been mortally injured when he receives a very minor flesh wound. And Groissböck nailed this role.
This performance was a success, and a good way for two of opera's greatest stars to say good bye to signature roles.
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