Conductor, Simone Young; Director, Robert Carsen; Set Designer, Paul Steinberg; Costume Designer, Brigitte Reiffenstuel; Lighting Designers, Robert Carsen & Peter Van Praet; Revival Stage Director, Paula Suozzi. Cast – Marschallin, Lise Davidsen; Sophie, Erin Morley; Octavian, Samantha Hankey ; Annina, Katharine Goeldner; Italian Singer, René Barbera ; Valzacchi, Thomas Ebenstein; Faninal, Brian Mulligan; Baron Ochs, Günther Groissböck
I have been to many excellent performances of this work. The one I remember with the fondest memories is the 1974 ROHCG production with Helga Dernesch as the Marschallin, and Yvonne Minton as Octavian, and the excellent Derek Hammond-Stroud fussing around as Faninal. This was conducted by Carlos Kleiber and I have a treasured memory, observed and heard from the Upper Slips, of Kleiber sculpting with his hands and arms the rising passion of the strings in the final big trio and producing one of the most gorgeous moments I’ve ever had in the opera house. But there was also the frequently revived ENO production of the mid/late 70’s – Anne Evans as the Marschallin, Josephine Barstow as Octavian and Valerie Masterson as Sophie, conducted by Charles Mackerras, which I saw many, many times (and I recently found, amazingly, a Feb 1975 clip on YouTube of the Presentation of the Rose from that production -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6e2ajq_dYv8. More recently I saw this very same Carsen production at ROHCG in 2016, with Octavian sung by Alice Coote, and the Marschallin sung during her final year of performing the role on stage by Renée Fleming, This was excellently conducted by Andris Nelsons
There were several truly excellent aspects of this production, and little that was mis-thought (and nothing that was mediocre)
I thought the conducting of Simone Young was superb. It sounded as though she loves this work and knows it inside out. Her tempi were certainly not fast – Andris Nelsons were almost frenzied by comparison – but the result was not sluggishness but rather a loving approach to the work, allowing everything to have its weight and to flourish, with a lovely Viennese lilt where needed. A wonderful example was the orchestral surge that accompanies the Marschallin’s entrance in Act 3, which I have rarely heard so grand and heart stopping. The Met orchestra played wonderfully and idiomatically, with a glorious string sound, confident whooping horns, and sympathetic woodwind
Rosenkavalier is one of those works that do not respond well to over-complicated directorial approaches. Carsen’s production updates it to the eve of WW1, which works well, and picks up on a reference in the libretto to make Faninal an arms dealer and manufacturer of howitzers. I thought the combination of Carsen’s directing, and the excellent ensemble acting, made the earlier part of Act 3 much more interesting than I have found it sometimes – it never seemed to meander or become tedious, and was at points genuinely funny. Having Sophie and Octavian on stage at the end spotlit on stage while the walls draw back and a huge howitzer appears is fair enough, but the rows of soldiers who stood up, pointed their guns at the audience and then collapsed provided a rather laboured and trivialised ending. Perhaps too (though maybe because of where the camera was pointing in a very crowded scene), it was unclear what the reasons were for Valsacchi and Annina defecting to Octavian. The antics of Ochs as ever seemed a bit over-the-top in the first act – Hofmannsthal’s fault , not Groissböck – and you wonder why the Marschallin would ever allow him to behave like that in front of her, but then maybe she is encouraging Ochs, knowing it is Octavian at the receiving end of Ochs’ endearments
In many ways the star performers were Ochs and Octavian. Günther Groissböck portrayed Ochs as more human than he can sometimes be and less of a caricature – he acted extraordinarily well, often very amusingly, and particularly in Act 3. His was perhaps a lighter voice than some in the role but still he managed his growled low notes very well. Samantha Hankey did not to my ears have as luscious a voice as some who have sung this, but she was such an excellent actor, such a sensitive singer that this didn’t seem important. She was better at suggesting the masculinity and the teenage tantrums of Octavian than most I have seen
It seemed odd in a close up film (it wouldn’t have mattered in the theatre) that Sophie almost seemed in appearance older than the Marschallin. Lise Davidsen is an artist whose career I watch with great enthusiasm and interest. It has been wonderful to hear her singing two Wagner roles live (Sieglinde and Elizabeth) in the last year and I am looking forward to her singing in Don Carlos in June at ROHCG. I felt her Marschallin was still at an early stage in her portrayal of the role – the Act 3 part of the Marschallin’s role was very movingly done, and Davidsen is very good at being serious, with a glorious start to the Trio. The Act 1 Marschallin portrayal made maybe less of some of the lines than others have, and you do have to think – what a weight of tradition for a young singer to have to cope with in this role and in this house (emphasised by the Met broadcast, that did a historical retrospective of Marchallins at the Met, including Lottie Lehmann, Schwarzkopf, Kiri Te Kanawa etc). Maybe Davidsen’s Marschallin wasn’t enjoying herself with Octavian as much as she might………Erin Morley as Sophie was very good and very well-acted
I have to say – after almost 7 years absence – it was wonderful to sit through the entirety of this work again. The cinema was sold out and very appreciative
John's musical journey 