Opera of the Week – Der Rosenkavalier from Garsington
OperaOpera Saturday night 30th October – Der Rosenkavalier at Garsington
Exquisite music, poignant comedy and fairy tale romance: Der Rosenkavalier has it all. For its Garsington premiere, Bruno Ravella transposes what is perhaps Richard Strauss’s most famous opera to the glamorous 1950s. Jordan de Souza conducts the excellent Philharmonia Orchestra and a bravura cast with Miah Persson as the Marschallin, Hanna Hipp as Octavian (Quinquin), Madison Leonard as Sophie von Faninal and Derrick Ballard as Baron Ochs.
This performance from Garsington Opera is a co-production with Irish National Opera and Santa Fe Opera.
Available to view Saturday 30th October at 19.00 CET 18.00 London and 13.00 NY
Link to streaming of performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIecFMGfRI8
Changing the time period context inevitably gravely distorts much of plot and text, which have been carefully written by Von Hofmannsthal to be historically accurate in terms of style and mindset. Also the music with its many quasi-18th century references becomes unrelated to what the audience sees. The fifties of the last century are an entirely different planet. It’s a compunctuous violation of the original…