Strauss operatic rarities at summer festivals(June 2003) This summer brings major revivals of Richard Strauss's rarer operas, dating from the 1920s and 1930s, at the Garsington, Sante Fe and Salzburg Festivals, all of which have special associations with the composer's stageworks.
Garsington Opera's new production of Die schweigsame Frau (The Silent Woman), Strauss's nautical comedy based on Ben Jonson's Epicoene, follows on a highly successful series of Strauss productions with director David Fielding and conductor Elgar Howarth. Taking in Daphne, Die Ägyptische Helena, Die Liebe der Danae and Intermezzo, this series has done much to stimulate British interest in the complete range of Strauss's operatic talents over the past decade. The new Garsington production opened on 14 June and performances run through until 10 July. "They've done it again... Though the piece is performed virtually uncut, the evening flies by, thanks to timing, dramatic pace and collective inspiration... The tale of the crusty old sea-dog, tricked into a mock-marriage with "the silent woman" who turns into a yacking harridan, must have struck a chord in the composer's household: there's a touch of Strauss himself in the long-suffering Sir Morosus, while Aminta comes across as a parody of his wife Pauline, in her more impossible moods." Financial Times The premiere staging in Dresden in 1935 was censored by the Nazis after only a handful of performances, as political embarassment grew about the regime sanctioning an opera with a libretto by the Jewish writer Stefan Zweig. With this disastrous launch and Strauss's political fall from grace, the work failed to establish itself in the repertoire during those dark years. Before the premiere Strauss had written to Zweig, predicting that Die schweigsame Frau "might have to wait until the 21st century", and recent events may be proving him right. The past five years have witnessed over 50 performances of the opera in Vienna, Dresden, Aarhus, Paris, Marseille, Zurich and Kiel. Most widely travelled has been the Vienna/Dresden production by Marco Arturo Marelli recently seen at the Châtelet in Paris, joined by new stagings by Robert Fortune and Jonathan Miller. Leading interpreters include Christoph von Dohnányi on the rostrum, baritones Franz Hawlata and Kurt Rydl as Morosus, and coloratura sopranos Natalie Dessay, Kirsten Blanck and Constance Hauman as Aminta. Autobiographical elements are even further to the fore in Intermezzo, which is revived at the Santa Fe Opera on 12 July, with performances running through to 6 August. Kenneth Montgomery conducts the production by Ken Cazan, with Judith Howarth and Scott Hendricks in the leading roles of Christine and Robert. Beyond its almost voyeuristic glimpses into the composer's private life, the opera is increasingly being seen as a virtuoso psychological study of marriage, a central recurring theme throughout the composer's ouput. It is also his most experimental opera in terms of text-setting, with a constant respect for word rhythms creating a genuinely conversational style, while the musical development is largely restricted to the interludes between the series of short scenes. Strauss's special relationship with the Salzburg Festival, which he co-founded, is celebrated this year with concert peformances of Die Ägyptische Helena on 29/31 July and 2 August. Deborah Voigt is in the title role, with Albert Bonnema as Menelaus, and Elena Mosuc as Aithra, conducted by Fabio Luisi. Deborah Voigt can be heard in a live recording of the opera conducted by Leon Botstein, just released on the Telarc label (Telarc 80605). Plans are also underway for the release of a new Deutsche Grammophon recording by Christian Thielemann, again with Voigt in the role of Helen. For full information on Strauss's operas, including soundclips and synopses, visit our Opera Website. > Further information on Work: Die schweigsame Frau sketch: © Boosey & Hawkes > News Search |
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