Bavarian State Opera (live stream), 21/03/2021

Strauss : Der Rosenkavalier

Chors and Orchestra of the Bavarian State Opera

Vladimir Jurowski

The first indication you get that this is not a run-of-the-mill view of Der Rosenkavalier is when the page Muhammed is replaced by an amiable, geriatric Cupid, who looks on to the proceedings all the way through with guru-like benevolence.  However, it's when the Italian tenor comes on, in 17th Century stage costume - short paniered skirt, elaborate buckled shoes and feathered headdress - that you realise you're seeing all of the first act through the Marschallin's eyes and imagination.  Suddenly, Mariandel makes new sense; far from the usual ultra-shy country bumpkin Octavian plays in order to try to avoid attention, she's a full-fledged, pert French maid, high-stepping in four-inch heels, complete with feather duster which she bends over provocatively to deploy.  Little wonder Ochs flips his lid for her.  

Similarly, Act 2 is Sophie's vision, a fairy-tale of a princess and a shining knight, rudely interrupted by Ochs, whose loutish entourage appears as a company of grotesque satyrs, complete with horns and goat-legs, and even her father (superbly sung by Johannes Martin Kränzle), encouraging the marriage, develops horns.  The final act is opera within the opera, not just a tavern with some hidden windows or trapdoors, but a literal, theatrical stage, with an auditorium behind the curtain, and Octavian as producer, director and star. 

Barrie Kosky is not the iconoclast some of his equally notorious colleagues are - notably Dmitri Tcherniakov - but he can certainly be relied upon to shake things up.  Sometimes it can be a bit much, but this vision of Rosenkavalier is expressive and poetic.  It's handsomely designed, the first act a silver rococo salon, the second a vast room whose walls are lined with Baroque paintings of Antiquity, with lovely, shimmering fabrics for the dresses.  In his hands, Der Rosenkavalier becomes a reflection on time and on expectations, friend and enemy in equal measure.  His Marschallin is still young and vital, it's her misfortune, perhaps, to have chosen a lover so much younger than herself, and there is a note of bitterness when she reappears in the last act, yet at the end, there is calm and acceptance, while Sophie and Octavian (literally) fly off hand-in-hand, Wendy and Peter Pan on their way to Never-Neverland.  

Ochs too varies through the acts, since he is always seen through the filter of one of the three others.  To the Marschallin he is encroaching, rather twitchy, but not altogether reprehensible, and he's certainly getting plenty of provocation from Octavian/Mariandel.  To Sophie, he's overly casual, entitled and conceited and cowardly, while in the last act, we see him in dressing gown, without his toupee, keen and eager and somewhat pathetic, and Kosky does not really allow him to depart on his dignity.  He is never quite, however, the grossly boorish character often seen in other productions. 

L to R : Marlis Petersen, Christof Fischesser and Samantha Hankey
Der Rosenkavalier, Act 1
(© Bayerische Staatsoper, March 2021)

Musically, Vladimir Jurowski delivered a beautifully paced, excellently detailed performance from the Bavarian State Opera Orchestra, unflagging support for a fine plateau, with Samantha Hankey and Katharina Konradi as a charming pair of lovers, and Christof Fischesser as a rather endearing Ochs, very comfortable with the demanding range of the character.  However, Marlis Petersen's Marschallin dominated proceedings by quite some way, beautiful singing allied to richly expressive acting, alive to every nuance and communicating it all with perfect clarity, and a performance that worked admirably for the camera, as well as for the stage.  An outstanding interpretation well worth seeing for itself, in a fine, attractive setting.