Der Rosenkavalier, Met Opera HD

[kfw]

Did anyone here catch the Met's HD broadcast of Der Rosenkavalier yesterday? I had hoped Helene would start a thread about it, but it turns out that Helene was attending to the real business of the board, the ballet. Did anyone see the opera earlier in the run, or see Fleming or Graham in it in years past?

Relative neophyte to opera that I still am, I don't know that I have any intelligent to say about the performance, but overall I was delighted, not just with the singing, but with the fine acting, especially that of Graham and Fleming. Kristinn Sigmundsson as Baron Ochs auf Lerchernau, and Christine Schafer as Sophie, were wonderful as well. I had only seen this opera – the day before – in the recording with Kiri Te Kanawa, Anne Howells and Barbara Bonney at Covent Garden in 1986, and I loved that, but I preferred Sigmundsson’s portrayal to Aage Haugland’s more buffoonish one. During an intermission interview Sigmundsson said something to the effect that Ochs was a country bumbler and didn’t know how to behave. I wonder if that might be an unorthodox – and highly charitable! – way of describing the character, who is a first class jerk any way you slice it, but it lent his character some depth, as did his more believable, less overtly parodic portrayal.

There has been talk here and elsewhere that these broadcasts will lead Peter Gelb to consider looks and acting ability over voices when he makes casting decisions, but with singers like Renee Fleming and Susan Graham, he obviously gets both. If anything, Graham’s comedy, and her imitation of an excited 17-year old -- the difference in ages between the lovers was clearly delineated in how they moved -- may have been a little broad at times for the big screen, but that’s fine, because her primary audience should be the customers in the house.

A friend commented yesterday that the opera was "not a movie," and wished for less busy camera work and fewer closeups. Only occasionally did I feel the same. There were actually a couple of moments when I thought the camera didn’t show the stage business as clearly as it could, for example in Act II when Octavion stabs Lerchenau. I knew what was coming, and maybe I just blinked at the wrong time, but the moment didn’t register as large as it might have.

The backstage features really up the star power quotient and provide information that enriches the performance. It was wonderful to watch this Octavion and Marschillin together having been reminded that they’re good friends, they both won competitions at the Met, and they came up through the ranks together. Fleming recalled that there was a time when, in reference to their appearances together, they would joke that the only people they kissed were each other.

Placido Domingo did most of the interviews, as well as the introduction before the overture, during which Graham and Fleming were visible, and evidently joking with each other on the bed behind him. Fleming later said that she didn’t mind and even liked the two hour break between her first and third act appearances. Asked about the difficulty of blending voices in the final trio, she said that Strauss did the work for the singers, and all they had to do was sing. Graham said that standing at the top of the stairs with the silver rose was a a heartstopping moment, called her silver outfit for that act “the human disco ball,” and pretended jealousy of Fleming backstage “reading emails.” Fleming joked that she and Christine Schafer had to help Octavion-Mariendel-Octavion through an identity crisis backstage.

During a visit to the costume shop we saw the bull in next week’s Carmen. I’ll be back at our local theater for that one. Who else saw this one?

[bart]

I got Sold Out so have to wait for the January 27 Encore.

In preparation, I'm planning on watching the 1982 video (Live from the Met?) with Te Kanawa, Troyanos, Blegen, and Moll, conducted by James Levine. One reason is to refresh my memory of music and lyrics, but another is to allow for comparisons of two different casts in the same Nathaniel Merrill production. I expect the differences in videography to make them look as they they were shot a century apart instead of just 28 years.

Placido Domingo doing the interviewing is a surprise. And a thrill!

I'm interested in your comments on the Baron Ochs character. I'm in agreement that the character as written is a "first class jerk any way you slice it," but I've seen some performances that transcend that to a degree. Otto Edelmann, in an earlyi 60s film from Salzburg, with Schwartzkopf, is one of those. However, I have to admit that I've never found Ochs amusing and generally can't wait for him to get off the stage. I'm glad the last word (from a male singer) goes to Faninal rather than Ochs.

[Helene]

I'm so used to seeing the Met HD broadcasts at 10am on Saturday that I wondered to myself whether I could see the first two acts before heading to see PNB, and then realized that, duh , I am in the same time zone as the Met Opera afternoon start.

Thank you so much for your report, kfw! Maybe I can make an encore performance.

[SandyMcKean]

My wife and I saw the HD performance last Saturday in Seattle. I loved it (but then I'm easy ).

Rosenkavalier has always been one of my favorites because the trio + duet at the end of Act III was introduced to me in high school as one of my first experiences with classical music (and certainly my first ever opera). I got totally hooked on it, and have played it a bzillion times over the course of my life (it is the most beautiful 10 minutes of opera for me). The opera has so many associations for me -- most strongly my ever so great friend Jim McClure who was that high school friend, and so musical (a singer), who did that introduction (alas Jim died of AIDS many years ago before much was available in the way of drugs).

I really enjoyed Sigmundsson as Ochs. I kinda like Baron Ochs. Sure, he is a boor and disgusting, but there is something lovable about him too (even tho he is a sleaze bag). That's exactly how Sigmundsson played him I thought. Not as a buffoon like I have seen before, and not as someone impossible to sympathize with, but as silly, cute, "little" man who is not aware of anything beyond his own selfish desires (much like a small child). Sigmundsson may have given us a clue to why he plays it this way during his interview. He said "there is a little Ochs in all of us". I thought "How True". Ochs is trapped in his world view that a 18th century nobleman is above the law, and has a God given right to do whatever (2001 through 2008, anyone?? ). He's just dumb enough to believe it.

I can understand feeling that one can't wait for him to get off the stage (bart), and I feel that way too in half my brain, but the other half of me gets a big kick out of Ochs. (Besides the opera would have no focus if it weren't for Ochs.) I also like the way he stays true to his "values" to the very end.....he even stomps off the stage in indignation when he is totally exposed. You've got to admire that. This is what I loved about Sigmundsson's performance, he actually allowed me to care just enough about Ochs to see him as a 3 dimensional character.

Of course, Fleming and Graham were superb (assuming I can tell the difference....which is a big IF).

One thing that struck me is: what is Strauss's point in Ochs? Domingo said that Strauss almost called the opera "Baron Ochs"; so clearly Strauss didn't consider him a dismissable character. Obviously, such a tale is a condemnation of the arrogance of the aristocracy. That makes total sense in Mozart's time with the "Marriage of Figuro", but why in the 20th century is Strauss interested in so starkly making the same point? It occurred to me that perhaps Strauss saw 20th century industrialists (or some such group) much like Mozart saw the aristocracy. (Think Bernard Shaw and The Ring).

Once again....I just love this opera.

P.S. What a strange cadence Domingo has when he speaks........

[bart]

I didn't know about the prominence Strauss planned on giving to Ochs. (Did he lose interest before writing the last Act?) Sandy asks some intriguing questions.. I just wanted to put them in a quote box in the hopes that some of our more knowledgeable opera fans will be able to answer.

One thing that struck me is: what is Strauss's point in Ochs? Domingo said that Strauss almost called the opera "Baron Ochs"; so clearly Strauss didn't consider him a dismissable character. Obviously, such a tale is a condemnation of the arrogance of the aristocracy. That makes total sense in Mozart's time with the "Marriage of Figuro", but why in the 20th century is Strauss interested in so starkly making the same point? It occurred to me that perhaps Strauss saw 20th century industrialists (or some such group) much like Mozart saw the aristocracy. (Think Bernard Shaw and The Ring).

Another question: who was the Italian tenor, and how did he fare?

[Ray]

Another question: who was the Italian tenor, and how did he fare?

Eric Cutler, and he was excellent!

[richard53dog]

I didn't know about the prominence Strauss planned on giving to Ochs. (Did he lose interest before writing the last Act?)

For me I wonder if Strauss lost interest before the second act. I find the Ochs stuff not at all funny and pretty endless. Personally, I'd hack 20 minutes

out of the second act and 15 out of the third.

The Mariandl thing goes on far too long too."Nein nein, nein nein, Ich trink' kein Wein" bores me to tears.

[SandyMcKean]

Interesting.

Act II is my favorite act, and I wouldn't cut a millisecond from it.

[kfw]

After two whole viewings , Act I is my favorite act, and I find II overlong dramatically, but not by much. Sandy, I really enjoyed your reading your thoughts. I don't find Ochs loveable, but I did think Sigmundsson made him a little pitiable, and the fact that he was, and that he wasn't a buffoon, or wasn't only a buffoon, made his scenes more of a piece with the scenes concerned with the love affairs, in which the characters were definitely three dimensional. For me, making Ochs less of a one-dimensional parody somewhat bridges the gap between the high seriousness of the affairs of the heart scenes and the suspension of disbelief required for the scenes in which Ochs believes Octavion is Mariendel . . . if that makes any sense. We still get the comedy, but the perspective doesn't jump back and forth quite so much.

[bart]

Maybe social satire rather than parody is what Strauss and Hoffmansthal were aiming for. The second half of Act I -- the crowd scene at the Marschallin's levee -- reminds me of satirical cartoons and caricatures from pre-Revolutionary France, or the later English cartoons of James Gilray.

I'm thinking of the hair dresser, the 3 orphans, a variety of petitioners, tradespeople, and hangers on. The Italian tenor is actually one of these figures, which may say something about the social status of such entertainers at that time. The best Italian tenor impersonation I've seen had him simultaneously puffed up and fawning. I wish I could remember who it was.

Ochs, like these others, has come to the Marschellin's levee as a petitioner, though he's a family relation and a member of the nobility. The provincial, even cloddish country nobleman -- brusque and insensitive, but also sentimental and capable of kindness -- was a standard figure of affectionate fun in German, as in English, literature. So was the embarassing relative.

I've seen the Merrill production several times and have always liked what he made of this scene. I hope the camera is pulled back from time to time so we can see what is going on. No matter how lovely and popular Fleming is, this is NOT the time for closeups.

[Helene]

Another question: who was the Italian tenor, and how did he fare?

Eric Cutler, and he was excellent!

Cutler was the tenor (Arturo) in the first Met HD broadcast ("I Puritani").

[chiapuris]

I saw last night in Ann Arbor the 6:30 Encore showing of the Met's Der Rosenkavalier.

What a splendid production!

Besides the outstanding performances of Fleming and Graham, I very much enjoyed the Baron Ochs of Sigmundsson, country bumpkin- dimwitted 'blueblood' lecher and exploiter of 'those beneath him' and yet…displaying other qualities that counterbalance his fatuousness.

There is a kind of nihilism about the human condition, both in the libretto of Hoffmansthal and the gorgeous lyricism of the Strauss

score, esp in the second act where stage events counter the musical transcendence.

Must read more about them (H H & R S).

[kfw]

Maybe social satire rather than parody is what Strauss and Hoffmansthal were aiming for. The second half of Act I -- the crowd scene at the Marschallin's levee -- reminds me of satirical cartoons and caricatures from pre-Revolutionary France, or the later English cartoons of James Gilray.

I'm thinking of the hair dresser, the 3 orphans, a variety of petitioners, tradespeople, and hangers on. The Italian tenor is actually one of these figures, which may say something about the social status of such entertainers at that time. The best Italian tenor impersonation I've seen had him simultaneously puffed up and fawning. I wish I could remember who it was.

Ochs, like these others, has come to the Marschellin's levee as a petitioner, though he's a family relation and a member of the nobility. The provincial, even cloddish country nobleman -- brusque and insensitive, but also sentimental and capable of kindness -- was a standard figure of affectionate fun in German, as in English, literature. So was the embarassing relative.

Thanks, Bart, that enriches the comedy for me.

I've seen the Merrill production several times and have always liked what he made of this scene. I hope the camera is pulled back from time to time so we can see what is going on.

It is.

[bart]

A cold (as in "cough, cough, cough") kept us from the Encore. (I had been looking forward to this enormously, but, I figured that Fleming, Graham, et al.,probably did not require vocal support from me.)

Thanks, chiapuris, for your impressions. I'd love to hear more about that "nihilism about the human condition."

[sandik]

I took my sister to this for her birthday (she loves Rosenkavalier, as well as being a Domingo fan, so she was on a roll) and I was very impressed, both with the opera, and the crowds that it brought out on a Saturday morning.

I've seen Ochs played a couple of different ways, and felt that here we really got a clear view of his sense of entitlement. He is a boor, yes, with that fatal combination of power and ignorance, and there were moments here where the venal quality really came forward. I think this was underlined by the use of subtitles, so that for those of us who don't really follow along in the language, we can link thought and action more directly here.

[Dale]

OK, this is slightly off topic, but ever since PBS redesigned it's website to its current style, I don't find the "schedule" area easy to follow at all.* Does anybody know when this is supposed to run on PBS or have access to the 2010 Met Opera broadcast schedule?

*Instead of listing the whole season, it only lists past broadcasts and the "next" item up, even if that item already was shown. The thing looks designed, like so much on PBS these days, to sell DVDs or watch clips on the site.

[volcanohunter]

I don't like the revised site either, and in any case there doesn't seem to be a master schedule available. But for what it's worth, Thirteen has tentatively scheduled the opera for Sunday, April 25, at 12:00 p.m. ET.

I know it's not much help, but the Met site also has a link to the PBS schedule that can be set to your station. (Well, it doesn't actually seem to be working at the moment, but perhaps it will later.)

http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/bro...ex.aspx?id=7712

It's an unwieldy thing that isn't especially helpful for those of us who live north of the border and therefore don't have zip codes. I end up entering my former Manhattan code, pleading ignorance about my signal provider and then readjusting the schedule to the stations I actually get. I feel quite ridiculous having to 'outwit' a computer program in this way.

[Dale]

Thanks for your help, volcanohunter. I have managed to find the next broadcast on PBS (most stations, I assume) is "Les Contes d’Hoffmann" on 3/24/2010. The production had lots of positive buzz, so I'm excited to see that one.

[SandyMcKean]

All or almost all the Met HD operas are being b'cast on my local Seattle PBS station. I can think of Tosca, Turnadot, Tales of Hoffman (soon) so far, maybe Aida was done too.....so Rosenkavalier would be next in line.

[richard53dog]

WNET, our PBS station for NYC just played an episode of "hide the telecast". The HD Turandot was announced for this past Sunday, Feb 28 at noon. It just didn't happen. Searching the webside for Turandot reveals nothing.

It probably serves me right, I was going to watch the thing just to see how awful it was. I heard an audio broadcast back in the fall with the HD cast and hated it.

Guleghina is one of the worst sopranos hunching her shoulders in front of the public today and the Calaf, Liu, and Timor weren't as bad but were still not very good either. And I HATE, HATE, HATE the Zeffirelli production.

Next up on PBS for us is Hoffman too and I'm looking forward to seeing that for Joseph Calleja's Hoffman which I heard broadcast and liked a lot. the Olympia and especially the Giulietta aren't exactly top tier though. But they were replacements for Anna Netrebko in those roles.

Speaking of replacements and shifting the thread a little more to what is a believe the next Met HD event in the cinemas, the Met announced that Natalie Dessay

is out of all performances of Thomas' Hamlet; she'll be replaced by Marlis Petersen who was originally going to sing one performance and cover the others.

[bart]

Speaking of replacements and shifting the thread a little more to what is a believe the next Met HD event in the cinemas, the Met announced that Natalie Dessay

is out of all performances of Thomas' Hamlet; she'll be replaced by Marlis Petersen who was originally going to sing one performance and cover the others.

Thanks for that information, richard.