Coming Up Roses

Santa Fe Opera’s “Der Rosenkavalier” captures the unbearable lightness of Strauss’ masterpiece

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Der Rosenkavalier opens in the Marschallin’s bedroom. She—Princess von Werdenberg—has just spent the night with her 17-year-old lover Octavian, Count Rofrano. The Marschallin’s cousin Baron Ochs auf Lerchenau arrives to find out whom the princess recommends as “Knight of the Rose” (Rosenkavalier) to deliver the ceremonial silver rose to Sophie, whom he plans to marry. To avoid detection, Octavian has dressed up as a maid. To stir the pot further, the Marschallin suggests Baron Ochs use Octavian for the task.

Assignations, mistaken identities, covert ops and even a few site gags ensue. But make no mistake, while Richard Strauss’ 1911 opera brims with lightness and humor, those qualities balance with sorrow and yearning.

The Santa Fe Opera’s production of Der Rosenkavalier—its sixth one, but its first in 32 years—runs four hours and change with two intermissions, including a 35-minute one after Act 2, during which crew members construct the set for the third and final act.

I loved every minute.

I plan to attend again, assuming the limited run hasn’t sold out by the time I finish writing this (tickets for most of the remaining shows were limited as of press time; catch the opening night performance at 6 pm, Aug. 19 on 95.5 FM KHFM or online at khfm.org).

Soprano Rachel Willis-Sørensen fully embodies in performance and voice the Marschallin as conceived by Strauss, who wrote in one of his many letters to librettist and poet/playwright Hugo von Hofmannsthal the character should be “a young and beautiful woman not more than 32, who, when she is in a bad mood, occasionally feels herself [an] ‘old woman’ by comparison with…Octavian.” He is not her first or last lover, Strauss notes, and when she sends him off at the end of Act 1, knowing he will fall for Sophie, she should do so not “as a tragic farewell to life, but all the time with Viennese grace and lightness, one eye wet and other dry.” (Be sure to read James M Keller’s excellent essay on the opera and Strauss and Hofmannsthal’s correspondence in this year’s opera program).

In an interview with KHFM, Willis-Sørensen talks about her experience singing in some of Strauss’ more so-called “serious” operas and responds to the idea that Der Rosenkavalier’s popular appeal stems from its “bubbly” music (spoiler alert: There will be waltzes). While the opera’s fun is undeniable, her character is “super serious…she has moments of humor, but I think the character generally is incredibly pensive, philosophical,” Willis-Sørensen says. And fundamentally, she continues, Der Rosenkavalier “is Strauss’s most successful opera probably because of its charm, but the depth of human experience that it portrays is also maybe unparalleled…it’s sort of coming at tragedy from a non-death perspective, just sort of the tragedy, the difficulty of life, of living and continuing to live in spite of challenge and misery.”

In a nutshell, Octavian (mezzo soprano Paula Murrihy) and Sophie (most performances by soprano Yin Fang; Liv Redpath will perform the role on Aug. 15) fall in love, but must thwart the lecherous and menacing Baron Ochs (bass Matthew Rose). This partially involves Octavian’s ongoing impersonation as the maid Mariandel, a farce filled with double-meaning as Octavian itself is what’s known as a “trouser” role, a male part designated for a female performer, such as Cherubino in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro (the Aria Code podcast’s 2021 episode “Once More Into the Breeches” is a great listen for more on this topic). Murrihy sings beautifully in this production, but she also brings the necessary acting chops and high energy to this role. She and Fang together, and with Willis-Sørensen in the devastatingly beautiful final Act 3 trio, are the heart of this emotional story of navigating love and time.

At the risk of naming every singer in a large cast, suffice it to say all were larger than life. Rose’s voice has a resonant deep tone, and, along with his comic timing (the site gag captured in one of the photographs accompanying this story is quite funny) stole the show on many occasions. Tenor Gerhard Siegel as Valzacchi and mezzo-soprano Megan Marino as Annina, who perpetrate some of the opera’s B-plot maneuvers, along with tenor David Portillo as the Italian singer, also wowed.

For all that, the show—a co-production with Garsington Opera and Irish National Opera—also is an orchestral and visual feast, with each of the three acts delivering a distinct aesthetic. Director Bruno Ravella has reset the opera from Vienna in the 1740s to the 1950s. Just as the opera itself has a sense of musical pastiche—beautifully conveyed by conductor Karina Canellakis—so does this production’s visual elements, ranging from the Rococo flourishes of the Marschallin’s bedroom, with its crisp linens and her silky nightclothes, to the pink crinoline skirts Sophie dons (I lack sufficient fashion vernacular to describe Baron Och’s outfits).

In an interview with Ravella in the opera catalog, writer Michael Clive notes the director’s “special attention” to Der Rosenkavalier’s “preoccupation with time.” I would note Lighting Designer Malcolm Rippeth’s genius contributions in this realm throughout, particularly in the opera’s final, transcendent moments.

In a video interview, Scenic and Costume Designer Gary McCann says in Der Rosenkavalier he’s “completely tried to create something that’s really beautiful, and I’m not apologizing for that.”

He—and everyone in this production—has succeeded. And no apologies necessary.

Der Rosenkavalier

Music by Richard Strauss/libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal

8 pm July 24, Aug. 2, 8, 15

Seated ticket prices range from $37 to $409. SRO is $15. First time buyers with New Mexico ID can receive 40% off a pair of tickets. Call or visit the Box Office for the most up to date information and pricing, or visit santafeopera.org.