Rosenkavalier is
sometimes unfairly portrayed as one
of the high-points of sentimental kitsch.
To me this is quite misguided, and ignores
emotional complexity of this opera,
which deals sensitively, and ultimately
very poignantly, with some uncomfortable
emotions – awareness of growing old,
ending a cherished affair and tooth-grinding
humiliation ... to name but three. This
Covent Garden performance has transferred
to video and DVD remarkably successfully,
partly because the singing and acting
of the principals is so good, but chiefly
because conductor Georg Solti finds
an excellent balance between sharp characterisation
and sumptuous romance; between wit and
mischief on the one hand and profound
feelings on the other. Though sensitive
to its beauties, Solti keeps the music
moving along, never becoming sloppy
or over-indulgent.
The production captures
Kiri te Kanawa at her very best. She
sounds and looks wonderful, and embodies
the role with total commitment, in a
way that is ultimately very moving.
She conveys superbly the transition
of the Marschallin from a playfully
voracious lover when the curtain goes
up on Act I, via her profound meditation
on advancing age at the close of that
same act, all the way to the self-sacrifice
she offers to Octavian and Sophie at
the end of Act III. I would love to
think – and it’s perfectly possible
to believe - that the tears visible
on her cheeks at the end of Act I are
completely genuine and innocent of any
chemical stimulation!
Anne Howells as Octavian
presents a bit of a problem. She is
vocally very fine, but not in the top
league, along with say Ludwig on Karajan’s
1950s recording, or von Otter for Kleiber
on DG and Haitink on EMI. Under the
close scrutiny of DVD, she looks all
wrong too – very obviously a woman,
not a teenage boy, though she certainly
appears more convincing in her Act II
garb as the Knight of the Rose.
Barbara Bonney, on
the other hand, is just perfect. She
inhabits Sophie’s very high tessitura
without the slightest sign of strain,
produces the most gorgeous tone, and
manages to suggest simultaneously the
vulnerability and strength of character
of this girl poised on the edge of womanhood.
Her moments with Te Kanawa near the
end of the opera are supremely memorable
and touching.
Haugland makes an excellent
Ochs, the country-bumpkin/parvenu who
gets his come-uppance-with-knobs-on
in Act III. There are walk-on parts
by distinguished artists such as Robert
Tear as Valzacchi and Cynthia Buchan
as his co-conspirator Anina, while Dennis
O’Neill deals splendidly with the poisoned
chalice of The Singer in Act I (potentially
a tenor’s graveyard, two minutes of
molto con belto, replete with
top Cs, and no time even to collect
a round of applause!). Jonathan Summers
as Faninal, however, looks and sounds
too youthfully healthy for an ageing
man supposedly on the point of collapse.
Schlesinger’s production
keeps the action taut, matching the
qualities and approach of Solti’s conducting.
The whole thing has that invaluable
live feeling, which makes it
so preferable to the ‘on location’ opera
DVDs that abound at present. Thus Carmen
strolling round Sevilla, while the voice
she is miming to very obviously emerges
from a studio hundreds of miles away,
reducing the whole thing to the level
of a pop video. This DVD of Strauss’s
best loved opera is an unforgettable
musical and visual experience.
Gwyn Parry-Jones
The Royal Opera Chorus and the Orchestra of the
Royal Opera House/Georg Solti 
WARNER
MUSIC VISION 0630-19391-2 [197:00 approx]