There is only one flaw in tonights crystalline production of Der Rosenkavalier, and it is delightful.
Three giant dogs are walked onto the stage held by long leashes but one of them is completely distracted by the audience. This good boy cannot stop himself, he is so enthralled by so many potential new friends. He pans the audience from side to side and top to bottom and in doing so completely breaks the fourth wall.
It is one of those special nights at the opera that thanks to the $25 rush ticket program we have in full view of us Simon Rattle conducting Strauss. Maybe it is his full white hair that makes me think of my old friend Dan.
Dan was a sophisticated older gent at the pool I lifeguarded as a kid. He actually lived around the corner but would bring his golden retriever over now and then to swim laps. He grew giant tomato vines and we built horseshoe pits and chipped golf balls in the field. One day he looked at me over a glass of scotch on the rocks and said, “Take my advice and don’t get old.” I’m too much a contrarian. Like a lot of advice I’ve been offered over the years, I regretfully didn’t follow this advice either.
They say it’s privilege to grow old and aging is certainly a theme in tonight’s opera.
In Der Rosenkavalier Camila Nylund brings aching pathos to the role of the mature Marschallin. While not being old, she is painfully self-aware that she is growing older. Her wisdom, self acceptance, and sacrifice through the opera is regal. I empathize with her conflicting feelings about the younger Octavian.
I am noticeably older than my partner in life and opera. One day we notice a man scrutinizing us from a distance and I wonder if he’s thinking to himself that I must be rich to be with such an attractive woman. What else could explain such a chasm in attractiveness but wealth. Chaltin sees him too and begins to say “I wonder if he thinks…” But, instead of finishing with “rich,” finishes with “you’re my father?” After a moment of feigned indignation, I roll my eyes and laugh. I can still lose decades with the touch of a razor if I must.
Baron Och’s plays a great villain full of privilege. He is obtuse in some ways, but also dangerous in his attitudes and power. Like Nylund, Groissbock plays the character with an underlying complexity that goes deeper than just caricature. I’d like to see Groissbock try his hand as Falstaff some day.
Magdalena Kozena plays a fun trouser role tonight.
I am not expecting to see so much nudity in the production, especially the simulated blow-jobs, but the third act is full of fun debauchery. I am however expecting to hear the perfect trio at the end that stretches time infinitely like the dream of the Marschallin (to hold time).
Is this one of my favorite operas? Tonight, I’m feeling a resounding yes. Rob once said, “If you ever get the chance to see some Strauss, do it.” I’m not disappointed.
So what is Der Rosenkavalier all about? It begins with the Marschallin who is sleeping with the much younger Octavian. The music comically let’s the audience know exactly what they have been up to, and it was not sleeping. Octavian languidly rests with a cigarette when the boorish Och’s shows up looking for a messenger to send a rose of engagement to the younger Sophie. The Marschallin has Octavian gets disguised as a woman who Och’s pursues. The Marshallin lets Octavian know that there relationship will probably not last and sends him away to deliver the rose and laments she let him go without even a kiss. What will happen when the young Sophie meets the young Octavian?
Listen for:
Trio at the end of act 3
Notes on the production
___________________________
Composer………..……………… Richard Strauss
Marschallin……………………… Camilla Nylund
Octavian………………..………… Magdalena Kozena
Baron Ochs…………….……….. Gunther Groissbock
Ochs…………………………….….. Mathew Polenzani
Faninal………………………..…… Markus Eiche
Sophie…………………………….. Golda Schultz
Conductor…………………….… Sir Simon Rattle
Met Opera
12/13/19