Der Rosenkavalier

[Tsaraslondon]

As Salome had its own thread, I thought I might start one for my favourite Strauss opera, which is also probably his most often performed.

I first saw the opera,  in 1974, when Scottish Opera brought their acclaimed 1971 production to Newcastle upon Tyne. The original production had been sung in English, but the revival was sung in German. They were lucky enough to retain the services of Helga Dernesch as the Marchallin, but Janet Baker, Sheila Armstrong and Noel Mangin had all left the cast, to be replaced by Anne Howells, Teresa Cahill and Michael Langdon. The 1971 premiere had been well covered by the press and had received universal praise. Photographs of the stunningly beautiful production had appeared in Opera magazine and were also the centrepiece of a new book documenting Scottish Opera's success since its creation in 1962. Consequently I felt I knew the opera quite well before I actually got to see it, even though I had never heard a note of the music. Not to worry. I loved the music of Richard Strauss,  rather more then than I do now. As soon as I knew the opera would be coming to Newcastle, where I was at university, I booked for myself, family and friends, the best seats in the house. I was absurdly excited.

I was not let down, and that night remains, to this day, one of the most memorable of my opera going experience. Elements of Anthony Besch's production, totally traditional in the best sense of the word, still remain indelibly imprinted on my mind. The ingenious set for the Marschallin's boudoir in Act 1 was comprised of mirrored walls and doors. It must have been a nightmare to light as there were mirrors everywhere. At the end of the act, at the point most Marschallin's pick up a hand mirror and study their faces in the glass, Dernesch's Marchallin caught a glimpse of herself in one of the mirrored walls. Not wanting to look, she turned away only to be confronted by another mirror. As the violin played that wonderful Marschallin theme, her hands slowly searched her face for the tell tale signs of the passing of time. It was incredibly moving.

Dernesch was at the time in her mid thirties, and an extremely beautiful woman. She was absolutely the Marschallin of one's imaginings, but the whole cast excelled. Anne Howells, who sounds unfocused and under the note for much of the highlights disc which was recorded as a memento of this production, was an ardently boyish Octavian, nervously pushing back a rebellious lock of hair at moments of emotion, and she acted the role so well that any vocal frailties went unnoticed. Cahill's doll like Sophie soared gloriously above the stave and Langdon, an experienced Ochs, didn't ham things up too much. Still, I remember feeling, as I still do now, that Act II, once past the gorgeous Presentation of the Silver Rose, became a little tedious.

The shenanigans at the beginning of Act III, which I also often find a bit of a trial, were well managed on this occasion, but the opera shifted, as it usually does, into another gear when the Marschallin makes her entrance - what wonderful music Strauss has given her for her entrance. It is a gift for any prima donna. From there till the end of the opera, we were all held in rapt attention and the final trio, the first time I had ever heard this music remember, left most of us with tears streaming down our faces.

I've seen the opera on many occasions since, with some great singers as well, but no other performance has quite matched that first one, my first exposure to a work I have come to know very well.

I subsequently bought the Schwarzkopf/Karajan recording, which is, to this day, my milestone recording. I don't find Schwarzkopf's detailed singing in the least bit mannered. So good is she at conveying fleeting changes of expression, that I feel I can see as well as hear her. Unlike many of the famous Marschallin's on disc, she is singing in her own language, and you feel she understands every facet of the character she is playing. Ludwig, an ardent Octavian, sings with great security and sweep, though she is more generalised in expression than Jurinac, the Octavian in the Paul Czinner film (also with Schwarzkopf and Karajan). I also prefer Rothenberger's creamy sound in the film to the rather white voice of Stich-Randall on the recording. Both performances for me are essential, the film beautifully restored in its recent Blu-ray incarnation.

Others will have their favourites. I know many cannot take to Schwarzkopf's art, but in Strauss, as in Mozart, I find her ideal, and I might well find myself clinging to this Schwarzkopf Rosenkavalier if ever shipwrecked on that famed desert island.

[kishnevi]

I've not had the pleasure of hearing any of the performanced you mentioned.
I've heard this opera several times on Met afternoon broadcasts, and have one CD recording (with Otter and Hendricks, IIRC),  but I never enjoyed it until I got the DVD with Renee Fleming as the Marschallin,  conducted by Thielemann, and with Koch, Damrau, and Hawlata in the other leads.  The production was originally done for Salzburg, and is moderately updated so that the costumes could indicate any time between perhaps 1930 and 1960.  (During the Presentation Scene, Koch as Octavian appears in white tux and white top hat, for instance.) The scenery was even less specific than the costumes, although apparently modern (in act III, you catch a glimpse of the Marschallin's limousine but Faninal and the Marschallin drive off in a horse drawn carriage (no actual horse, however) ).  The acting was superb on all sides, all the way down through Annina and Valzacchi and the Baron's bastard son.  Jonas Kaufmann got the part of the Italian Singer, and comically (and purposefully) overracted aided by a plate of spaghetti.   But it was one of those evenings in which Fleming's singing and acting were the prime ingredient. especially in the first act.   There was no single instance I can pick out, but her entire time on stage was full of moments.

Perhaps I like the DVD so much because I could see the action and, via the subtitles, follow what was being sung.   It's possible this is one of those operas in which simultaneous translation of one sort or another is really a necessity for anyone who isn't fluent in German.

[knight66]

Tsaras and I saw the same production, but I was lucky enough to see it in Glasgow on the opening night with Baker as Octavian, she was superb, the equal of Fassbaender or Sarah Connelly. That Glasgow performance was broadcast and CDs recently surfaced. It was my first live experience of the piece and I also found the long dialogues in act two a bit of a trial. But overall it was a knockout and i have never felt so immersed in a performance. I already knew the Karajan sound only version with Schwarzkopf and my father had earlier taken me to the film of a live Karajan performance of Schwarzkopf.

It has struck me that the librettist could never resist ramming too many words into his work. I suspect his plays would be likewise over wordy.

Although I know that Strauss did not intend the Marshalian to be seen as a tragic character, I echo Jeffrey's remarks, that version with Fleming is so special because of how far Fleming takes her role. I am not fond of the other singers here.

I have a number of other versions, but at the moment this thread is more about our impressions of the piece than a list of recommendations.

Mike

[johnshade]

The best.  Excellent performances -- Brigitte Fassbaender, Lucia Popp, Carlos Kleiber, and Munich Opera .
.
Not to be overlooked:

[Tsaraslondon]

The best.  Excellent performances -- Brigitte Fassbaender, Lucia Popp, Carlos Kleiber, and Munich Opera .

The earlier of the Kleiber performances on DVD is certainly one of the best available, and reminds me that I saw Jones and Fassbaender in the same roles at Covent Garden under the baton of Silvio Varviso. Edith Mathis was an excellent Sophie. It was another memorable evening in the theatre, though never quite eclipsed my memories of my first Rosenkavalier with Dernesch as the Marchallin.

[val]

Der Rosenkavalier is not my favorite opera of Strauss. But I love the version of Schwarzkopf, ideal for this kind of role (she was also perfect in Capriccio) and Christa Ludwig, to me the best Octavian (with Jurinac in the version of Erich Kleiber).
This version have other decent performances (Stich-Randall, Edelmann) and the splendid direction of Karajan.

The version of Carlos Kleiber never convinced me, perhaps because of Gwyneth Jones.

I would like to hear the legendary version (not complete) of Lotte Lehmann, Elisabeth Schumann  and Richard Mayr.

[Drasko]

I like Rosenkavalier a lot. Just wanted to say that even though I wouldn't dream to deny pure sublimity of presentation of the rose and the final trio, my favorite part of the opera is last 20 minutes of Act I: Marschallin's monologue (Da geht er hin ...) and following scene with Octavian (Die zeit ...). He is all fire and ardency, she is melancholy but seemingly wise and composed, than he leaves and all her composure goes out in flash (...nicht gekusst) but just for the briefest of moments! The music, the singing, the theater ...

That is the part I play most often on its own.

[Mandryka]

Yes Drasko. In a way this is a perfect blend of comedy and philosophy, and there is a real poignancy for me in the Marschallin's acceptance of  the inevitability of her fate. The only real negative for me is the slapstick in the first part of Act 3.

I saw a very good Ochs recently, Peter Rose. Well worth going to see if he turns up at an opera house near you.

[Drasko]

I saw a very good Ochs recently, Peter Rose. Well worth going to see if he turns up at an opera house near you.

I find Kurt Moll, on Kleiber's later video, to be an exceptional Ochs.

[Mandryka]

You know that Strauss and Hoffmanstahl wanted to call the opera Ochs? I think they cut quite a lot of Ochs material out when the name Rosenkavalier was finally decided on.

I guess that means that they thought he was the central character. Which is interesting. I think he's a real caricature in the opera as we have it. I've known quite a few sexist aristocrat snobs, but none of them are as awful as Ochs.

Mind you, I've never known any Austrian aristocrats.

[kishnevi]

You know that Strauss and Hoffmanstahl wanted to call the opera Ochs? I think they cut quite a lot of Ochs material out when the name Rosenkavalier was finally decided on.

I guess that means that they thought he was the central character. Which is interesting. I think he's a real caricature in the opera as we have it. I've known quite a few sexist aristocrat snobs, but none of them are as awful as Ochs.

Mind you, I've never known any Austrian aristocrats.

There probably is a good deal of meaning in the fact that the most famous melody in the opera, and one of the most elegant waltzes ever composed,  is, in the context of the opera's action, a tune Ochs sings to himself while remembering his days as an elegant and handsome dandy about the town.  (Well, he thought he was elegant and handsome....)  But he was probably meant to be a caricature from the start,  given his name.  Baron Ox!

[Tsaraslondon]

You know that Strauss and Hoffmanstahl wanted to call the opera Ochs? I think they cut quite a lot of Ochs material out when the name Rosenkavalier was finally decided on.

I guess that means that they thought he was the central character. Which is interesting. I think he's a real caricature in the opera as we have it. I've known quite a few sexist aristocrat snobs, but none of them are as awful as Ochs.

Mind you, I've never known any Austrian aristocrats.

Well Hoffmanstahl may have thought the opera was about Ochs, or even Octavian, but there is no doubt in my mind that Strauss thought the opera was about the Marschallin.

[Wendell_E]

Well Hoffmanstahl may have thought the opera was about Ochs, or even Octavian, but there is no doubt in my mind that Strauss thought the opera was about the Marschallin.

From what I've read, the germ of the story was the Ochs-Octavian/Mariandel shtick, but during the fleshing out of the plot, the Marschallin's role grew in importance.

[mjwal]

I first saw this opera back in the 60s in the form of the Czinner film, and I fell in love with Schwarzkopf's voice and her aristocratic bearing. I always found the Karajan studio a bit calculated and lacking in spontaneity - the final trio doesn't quite do it for me, and the Ochs is merely coarse; I have heard part of a contemporary (La Scala?) live under K. with Schwarzkopf, which I preferred - however K. also conducted a Salzburg live with Lisa Della Casa* and if I had a really good transfer of that (not just excerpts) I might prefer it to all I know on record, with the signal exception of the (heavily cut, unfortunately) Clemens Krauss/VPO Salzburg 1953 with Reining, Della Casa, Gueden and Boehme, which has the most Viennese flair and erotic passion: the trio is almost unbearably intense. I am also quite fond of the Varviso excerpts on CD with Crespin, Söderström, Gueden & the VPO. * Della Casa was justifiably indignant about the boorish manner in which the unspeakable Walter Legge arranged to replace her with his wife on the recording, and only returned to the rôle at Salzburg this once, I believe.
As to Hofmannsthal's libretto - it is true that it is slightly too verbose for an opera; it would be excellent as a play on stage, I think, from reading it as a text. I wonder if Ochs - who is of course an 18th C country (!) nobleman, Mandryka, more of a Falstaff figure than the aristocrats you are likely to have known; I find him magnificent, with his echoes of a rural Jupiter seducing the wenches or even Kleist's Alkmene in Amphitryon. There is a wonderful recording of the Ochs scene in Act 2 by Alexander Kipnis which does the figure justice - perhaps Kipnis understood the figure better from his Eastern European background, he certainly brings out the poetry of the figure more than any other Ochs I have experienced, despite not having an Austrian accent. Much more problematic for me than Ochs is the Octavian/Sophie couple: I just don't believe in it, and the final, rather sugary duet seems to prove my point. Chacun à son goût...
The best production I have seen was by Ruth Berghaus, back in the Frankfurt Gielen era: it was sort of cubistically decadent cum social critique - and very disturbing in places, a sort of Dr Caligari Wonderland rather than a Sachertorte splurge.

[Mandryka]

Have you heard Marston's release of Fritz Busch conducting Rosenkavalier with Kipnis in Argentina? I haven't. I may try to get it if someone posts in its favour.

I've only ever seen it at Covent Garden. The productions have been really inspiring from an interior design point of view. I based one of my bedrooms (guest bedroom, you will be most welcome to use it next time you need a point de chute in London) on the one in the opening scene of ROHCG's 1990s set - bed on a slightly raised platform, gold curtains and matching  bedspread, ottoman etc. It's very vulgar but it always makes me smile.

One of  the things I always look forward to in the opera most is when Mohammed comes on at he end. Covent Garden used to use a little black boy with a big grin, all done out in powdered wig and livery.

Oh and I can't resist mentioning one of my favourite recordings, which is Bernstein's, just for the incredible orgasm in the overture to Act 1. It's one of the most pornographic things in music I know.

[Tsaraslondon]

* Della Casa was justifiably indignant about the boorish manner in which the unspeakable Walter Legge arranged to replace her with his wife on the recording, and only returned to the rôle at Salzburg this once, I believe.

Are you sure this is true? In those days singers tended to be exclusively contracted to one label or another. Della Casa recorded for Decca not EMI. Schwarzkopf first sang the role under Karajan at La Scala in 1952. It is hardly surprising that she should therefore have been first choice for the EMI recording, which was made at the end of 1956.

Unlike you, I don't find the EMI recording in the least lacking in spontaneity and the final trio still reduces me to tears, no matter how many times I hear it. Strange how we all respond differently.

[Drasko]

Are you sure this is true? In those days singers tended to be exclusively contracted to one label or another. Della Casa recorded for Decca not EMI. Schwarzkopf first sang the role under Karajan at La Scala in 1952. It is hardly surprising that she should therefore have been first choice for the EMI recording, which was made at the end of 1956.

The way I heard it the elbowing happened for the Czinner film. Making of the film came on the heels of 1960 Salzburg production in which Della Casa sung Marschalin, and was approached by Karajan for subsequent filming and then at the last moment replaced by Schwarzkopf. After which Della Casa said she'll never sing at Salzburg again, and I believe she didn't.

[Wendell_E]

The way I heard it the elbowing happened for the Czinner film. Making of the film came on the heels of 1960 Salzburg production in which Della Casa sung Marschalin, and was approached by Karajan for subsequent filming and then at the last moment replaced by Schwarzkopf. After which Della Casa said she'll never sing at Salzburg again, and I believe she didn't.

The Salzburg Festival Archives are available online (from 1940 the present), and those 1960 performances in Der Rosenkavailer and Le nozze di Figaro were indeed her last ones there.  http://www.salzburgerfestspiele.at/en/archive

[mjwal]

Are you sure this is true? In those days singers tended to be exclusively contracted to one label or another. Della Casa recorded for Decca not EMI. Schwarzkopf first sang the role under Karajan at La Scala in 1952. It is hardly surprising that she should therefore have been first choice for the EMI recording, which was made at the end of 1956.

Unlike you, I don't find the EMI recording in the least lacking in spontaneity and the final trio still reduces me to tears, no matter how many times I hear it. Strange how we all respond differently.

You are quite right to question this - faulty memory on my part - and Drasko provided the correct answer. I had already begun to wonder myself, because of the dates. But it was Legge who connived at the change, I believe - there was a TV programme devoted to Della Casa in which both she and her husband spoke about such things, among others, I recall. "Believe", "recall" - oh, dove sta memoria?
I've never heard the Bernstein, Mandryka, now I must hear it. I don't know the Busch live. Thanks for the invitation - I may not be coming to London for a while, but I'll remember your kind offer. That bedroom is very tempting!
As to the EMI recording - it's a long time since I heard it, and I'll get a digital copy and listen again some time

[kishnevi]

I've talked about the DVD version before on this thread; now what is apparently the audio-only version has been released on CD
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