Richard Strauss (1864-1949):
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| Die Feldmarschallin | ELISABETH SCHWARZKOPF |
| Der Baron Ochs auf Lerchenau | OTTO EDELMANN |
| Octavian | CHRISTA LUDWIG |
| Herr von Faninal | EBERHARD WÄCHTER |
| Sophie | TERESA STICH-RANDALL |
| Marianne | LJUBA WELITSCH |
| Valzacchi | PAUL KUEN |
| Annina | KERSTIN MEYER |
| A singer | NICOLAI GEDDA |
| A police officer | FRANZ BIERBACH |
| Major-domo (to the Marschallin) | ERICH MAJKUT |
| Major-domo (to Faninal) | GERHARD UNGER |
| An attorney | HARALD PRÖGLHÖF |
| A landlord | KARL FRIEDRICH |
| A milliner | ANNY FELBERMAYER |
| An animal seller | GERHARD UNGER |
| Noble orphans | ELISABETH SCHWARZKOPF, CHRISTA LUDWIG & KERSTIN MEYER |
| Footmen | GERHARD UNGER, ERICH MAJKUT, WÄCHTER & HARALD PRÖGLHÖF |
| Waiters | ERICH MAJKUT, GERHARD UNGER, WÄCHTER & FRANZ BIERBACH |
Introduction
More than any other conductor, Herbert von Karajan captured both the opulence and lilt of Strauss’ grand Viennese comedy. Christa Ludwig’s Octavian holds centre stage gloriously, while Elisabeth Schwarzkopf’s Marschallin is of unrivalled subtlety.
Synopsis
The most popular of Richard Strauss’ operas, Der Rosenkavalier was the composer’s second collaboration with the Viennese writer Hugo von Hofmannsthal. While set in 18th century Vienna, this bittersweet comedy is very much of its time (1911) in its sensibility and aesthetics, not least its gloriously anachronistic use of sumptuous, late-Romantic waltzes.
The eponymous Knight of the Rose is a young nobleman, Octavian. He is sent as an emissary by his older lover, Marie-Therese (the Marschallin), when her boorish country cousin, Baron Ochs wishes to stake his marriage claim on Sophie, the young daughter of a newly ennobled merchant. As Octavian presents a ceremonial silver rose to Sophie the two fall instantly in love, their rapture expressed in music of incandscent beauty, both ethereal and sensual. By the end of the opera – and with the help of complex comic machinations – the young lovers are united, while Ochs is disgraced and the Marschallin is obliged to take an altruistic and philosophical view on the situation. One of the most subtly portrayed characters in opera, she leads Sophie and Octavian (a ‘trousers role’ for mezzo soprano) in the climactic Act III trio, in which the three female voices intertwine to heart-stopping effect.
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Compact Disc 1 70.08 ACT ONE |
Compact Disc 2 59.48 ACT TWO
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Compact Disc 3 61.38 ACT THREE |
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