In Act I of “Der Rosenkavalier” (The Knight of the Rose), a boorish, elderly man brags about seducing a pretty young girl. It’s an Access Hollywood Aria.
The blowhard In Richard Strauss’ comic opera is Baron Ochs, an aging, narcissistic, money-obsessed aristocrat. He brags to his cousin, Princess Marie Therese von Werdenberg, about his alliance with a 16-year-old heiress.
Perfect.
Ochs is the buffoon in Strauss’ 1911 opera about palace intrigue. Meant to be a satire of court behavior, the opera was inspired by earlier works about the rich and supercilious. Strauss and his librettist Hugo von Hofmannsthal borrowed from Molière.
In the first decade of the 20th century, Strauss, who died in 1945, perused Molière’s 1669 play about an amorous old Parisian. “Monsieur de Pourceaugnac” the subject of Molière’s ballet-comedy, was written for King Louis XIV, and in Strauss’ hands, the character reappears as Baron Ochs (German for ox).
Strauss and Hofmannsthal also borrowed from another French satirist, Louvet de Couvray. In the late 18th century, he satirized the adventures of a young chevalier who happened to have an overzealous sexual appetite and a certain feminine beauty. This character surfaces in the title role of “Der Rosenkavalier.”
To many, however, it is the princess, the Marschallin (soprano Renée Fleming) who anchors Strauss’ comedy about courtly shenanigans. Originally set in the 18th-century twilight of the Viennese Hapsburgs, the new Met production, conceived by Canadian director Robert Carsen, puts it squarely in 1911, the year of the opera’s completion.
While the Masrchallin’s husband is conveniently away, she toys with her boy-toy, 17-year-old Count Octavian (mezzo Elina Garanča). They play a prank on her pompous cousin (baritone Günther Groissböck). It involves flirting, cross dressing and an agreement to present a silver rose to Sophie (soprano Erin Morley). The appalling TV show, “The Bachelor,” has borrowed the old European tradition of a rose ceremony as its central conceit of marital intent.
“Der Rosenkavalier” begins in the Princess’ apartments, where she is having an affair with the young Count. The Baron muscles his way past servants to boast about his plan to marry Sophie for her inheritance. He’s distracted by a comely maid, the Count in disguise, another “Access Hollywood” moment.
Act II progresses to Faninal’s palace for the rose ceremony. Sophie’s wealthy father (bass Markus Brück) is an arms dealer, so expect to see two massive cannons and servants who don’t conceal their weapons. When the young Count meets Sophie, they immediately fall in love, scrambling the Baron’s plans.
Act III takes place in an inn, or in Director Carsen’s interpretation, a high-class brothel. Here the Baron gets his comeuppance, the young couple declares mutual love and the princess lets go of her boyfriend to lament the passage of time. Some of Strauss’ most beautiful music is saved for the final act.
Casting the Austrian baritone Günther Groissböck as the Baron may be the only glitch. Depending on his costume and characterization, we’ll see. The singer is a handsome 40, not a Falstaffian-Trumpish 70. Comedic skill may carry the role and enhance the joke played on the Baron. We’ll see.
Note the early start time, 10:30 a.m., and the fact that this is the last time Fleming will sing the Marschallin at the Met. She’s only retiring this role, not her career.
Bring a thermos.
Judith Reynolds is an arts journalist and member of the American Theater Critics Association.
If you go
What: The MET: Live in HD will present Richard Strauss’ “Der Rosenkavalier.”
When: 10:30 a.m. Saturday.
Where: Vallecito Room of the Fort Lewis College Student Union.
Tickets: $23 general admission, $21 for seniors, students and MET members, available online at www.durangoconcerts.com, by phone at 247-7657 or at the Welcome Center at Eighth Street and Main Avenue, and at the door.
More information: Sung in German with English subtitles. Running time: four hours, 40 minutes.
