The Siver Rose is Coming to San Diego! Preview of Der Rosenkavalier at San Diego Opera

Comfortably settled into your (hopefully) well-cushioned seat squeezed between narrow rows in the broad auditorium, you pronounce yourself ready for a long night at the opera. The curtain stays down as the lights dim and the maestro makes his way to the front of the orchestra pit. And, with a stroke of his baton, swiftly provokes the brassy horn section into an adulterous crescendo of sonic erection. The gracefully sensual strings immediately respond with an unmistakably feminine attempt at tempering the brass' erotic rush, but is enthusiastically rebuffed by the youthful horns' more energetic upward thrust. Entwined in their excited battle of the sexes, the more experienced (and patient) strings deftly arch and writhe around the intensely virile horns, shepherding their acoustic intercourse beyond the latter instruments' climatic threshold.... and subsequent second-wind. It is the sweetness of a lady who controls this show... Though that really isn't saying much since the impetuous man of the story is truly himself - a woman.

Click here to hear a youtube sample clip of the music described above.

And so it is that you are introduce to Der Rosenkavalier, Richard Strauss' most successful collaboration with the celebrated Viennese librettist Hugo von Hoffmannsthal, and one of the most often staged German operas in the standard repertoire all over the globe. At three hours in length (not including two intermissions), it is also one of the lengthiest (among non-Wagnerian operas, that is).

The comical story is set in Vienna during the reign of Maria Theresa (1717-1780), the rather religiously rigid Habsburg empress of the Holy Roman Empire, whose stern eyes were often fixed upon her nobelmen's collective back. The Viennese nobility, not surprisingly, found having extra-marital affair under the empress' stern nose a rather chic form of extra-royal activities. And that is how it comes to be that the first thing you are liable to see when the curtain finally goes up at the last note of the orchestral introduction is Marie Therese (the Marshallin), the esteemed wife of the Field Marshall Prince von Werdenberg, sharing her bed(room) with the latest (and youngest yet) of her many lovers, seventeen years old Count Octavian Rofrano - the very boy whose tempestuous nature the French horns had so aptly mirrored in the previously heard music.

The pair's blissful after glow is all too suddenly disturbed by the arrival of visitors, the most rudely insistent of whom her ill-mannered cousin, Baron Ochs of Lerchenau. To avoid compromising the perceived virtue of his beloved Marshallin, Octavian disguises himself in a maid's costume and proves himself so convincingly lovely in the opposite sex's dress that he is promptly wooed by Ochs. Having successfully talked his cousin into providing him with a respectable noble man (who else but the young Count Rofrano?) to carry the traditional silver rose of engagement to instigate his marriage to Sophie von Faninal, the young daughter of a rich merchant who is as eager to earn a foothold in the ranks of the Viennese nobles as Ochs is the key to Faninal's money.

But what is a comic opera without a little complication? Upon accomplishing the task of delivering the engagement silver rose on behave of Baron Ochs, Octavian falls instantly in love with the beautiful Sophie, who doesn't hesitate for very long at all before returning his affections. Fueled by his outrage at Ochs' boorish treatment of his prospected bride, Octavian challenges his rival to a duel and even manages to draw some blood before being kicked out by the exasperated Faninal. This being a comic rather than a tragic opera, you can probably now guess who would end up with who at the end of the story, but it is not the outcome of the various intrigues and schemes that carries the attractiveness of this musical tale. Rather, the fun (and ultimately the morale) are in the how...

If you are living or visiting in Southern California in early April, you can see and hear the 'how' for yourselves when the San Diego Opera stages Der Rosenkavalier under the watchful eyes of stage director Lotfi Mansouri, who, along with set designer Thierry Bosquet, based their design of the production on the original design when the opera was premiered in 1911. Even though conceptual and/or updated staging of this opera is now common in Europe, there is no need to fear for any trace of Regietheater in this production. In Mr. Mansouri's own words; "This is one opera that I personally feel should not and cannot be updated or put into some kind of metaphysical or political "concept". The story is tied to a particular historical period and culture, and the action contains many social customs and rituals of that culture."

The title role of the show will be performed by German mezzo-soprano, Anke Vondung, who has many interesting things to say about her onstage alter-ego Count Octavian:
"I think Octavian is a very passionate young man with all the wonderful qualities of a teenager like curiosity and sudden enthusiasm for everything that is new and exiting. This also means that he burns up inside for people and things very quickly and passionately from one second to the next. We have one of the most wonderful moments of "love at first sight" of the whole opera repertoire. But i personally think, and there are some hints in the score, that these two young people won`t stay together forever...

The switching between Mariandel and Octavian throughout the opera is one of the funniest and most enjoyable parts and I personally love it, because I have loved all my life to switch into others personalities and clothes - perhaps because I come from a part of Germany where we have a wonderful culture of so called Carnival...and I've loved this, since i was a child. So i deeply enjoy these moments of dressing up like somebody else and jumping into a new role."

As the (hopefully) adorable bad boy of the opera, Baron Ochs, is the British bass-baritone Andrew Greenan;
"For all his (Ochs') boorishness, and however politically incorrect his behaviour might seem to early 21st century eyes, I do not believe he is a brute.

Strauss, who, incidentally at one time considered calling the opera Ochs auf Lerchenau - was insistent that he is a nobleman who knows how to behave in the presence of his the Marschallin, although he is inwardly a bounder. Though he has retained something of courtly etiquette the aristocratic breeding has become somewhat diluted and Ochs certainly lacks any of his cousin's refinement or subtlety of thought. He talks a lot and listens very seldom, fueled by his obsession with money, social status and and sexual conquest, not necessarily in that order!

However, far from wanting to force himself on women, he truly believes himself to be irresistible to them, just as he is so convinced, that he is lowering himself in agreeing to marry below his class to the extent that he expects to be paid to do so. For all the noise he makes and his apparent worldliness there is a ridiculous naïveté about him and a childlike zest for life in him that are both amusing and endearing. There is nothing sly or underhand in anything Ochs does; if he wants to flirt with a woman he does so openly and with great enthusiasm! Ochs is something of a politician; he believes what he wants to believe in any given situation, and is capable of putting the most positive "spin" on any setback, so that even at the end, when he realises he has been the victim of a rather cruel trick (albeit one he brought upon himself) he agrees it has all been great fun and assumes his marriage with Sophie will still go ahead. It is only when the Marschallin finally orders him to leave that he is forced to admit defeat. This he does with relatively good grace, just as any singer reaching the end of the exhausting role of Ochs and hearing his colleagues embark on the Trio, has to concede with a smile that he is about to be upstaged by some of the most heavenly music ever written."

The performance will be conducted by German conductor Christof Perick, who is no stranger to this opera;
"Well, it is the most popular of the Strauss opera and one that I have produced three or four times. It's an opera for everybody with a wonderful story, great music and wonderful roles. And, it's fun. Still, it is a very difficult opera for a conductor. It's a big orchestra that at times must be kept soft as to not overpower the singer. The difficulties come in the balance between addressing the technical aspects of the opera while keeping that relationship between the orchestra and singers; to keep the magic alive so it seems simple."

And there is much magic for him and his cast to keep alive during the four performances at the Civic Theater stage next month indeed. If you are in the area, come out and see what the fuss is all about. Although the opera will be performed in original German, the stage is equipped with English sur-title, so there is no chance for you to miss out on the stage fun and pun galore!

Der Rosenkavalier at the San Diego Opera: April 3, 6, 9, 12.

Sources:
- Kings College History Department's Maria Theresa page.
- Lotte Lehmann. My Many Lives.
- San Diego Opera's 2011 Der Rosenkavalier Cast Members.