Der Rosenkavalier
Encyclopedia : D : DE : DER : Der Rosenkavalier
Der Rosenkavalier (The Cavalier of the Rose) is a comic opera in three acts by Richard Strauss to an original German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. It is loosely adapted from the novel Les amours du chevalier de Faublas by Louvet de Couvrai and Molière’s comedy Monsieur de Pourceaugnac. It was first performed at the Königliches Opernhaus in Dresden on 26 January 1911 under the direction of Max Reinhardt.
There are several recordings of the opera, and it is regularly performed.
Roles
| Premiere, January 26, 1911 (Ernst von Schuch)
| ||
|---|---|---|
| The Marschallin, Princess Marie Thérèse von Werdenberg | soprano | Margarethe Siems
|
| Octavian, Count Rofrano, her young lover | soprano or mezzo-soprano | Eva von der Osten
|
| Mohammed, her black page | silent |
|
| Baron Ochs auf Lerchenau, her cousin | bass | Karl Perron
|
| Sophie von Faninal | soprano | Minnie Nast
|
| Herr von Faninal, Sophie's rich parvenu father | baritone | Karl Scheidemantel
|
| Marianne, her duenna | soprano |
|
| Valzacchi, an intriguer | tenor |
|
| Annina, his niece and partner | contralto |
|
| A notary | bass |
|
| An Italian singer | tenor |
|
| Three noble orphans | soprano, mezzo- soprano, contralto |
|
| A milliner | soprano |
|
| A vendor of pets | tenor |
|
| Faninal's Major-Domo | tenor |
|
| A police inspector | bass |
|
| The Marschallin's Major-Domo | tenor |
|
| Four lackeys | tenors, basses |
|
| Four waiters | tenor, basses |
|
| A flautist, a cook, a hairdresser and his assistant, a scholar, an inkeeper, a noble widow | all silent |
|
| Servants, hired deceivers, children, constables
| ||
Plot
- Time: 1740s, in the first years of the reign of Empress Maria Thérèse.
- Place: Vienna.
Act I
In her bedchamber, Princess Marie Therese von Werdenberg (or the Marschallin) and her much younger lover Count Oktavian Rofrano, exchange vows of love. To avoid scandal, he hides when a small black boy, Mohammed, brings the Marschallian's breakfast, and then again when loud voices are heard in the antechamber. He returns disguised as a chambermaid. The Marschallin's country cousin Baron Ochs has unexpectedly arrived to discuss his engagement to Sophie, the daughter of a wealthy merchant. After boorishly describing his personal pastime of chasing skirts, and demonstrating on Oktavian, he asks the Marschallian which cavalier should he select to deliver the traditional silver engagement rose to Sophie. She recommends Oktavian, and when Ochs sees the young count's picture, he notices the similarities in the count's Face to "Mariandel's" and assumes that she is Oktavian's bastard sister. The coarse Ochs propositions "the chambermaid", and Oktavian plays the county maid in response and leaves the first chance he gets.The room then fills with supplicants to the Princess. An Italian Tenor serenades the Marschallian, Ochs works out the marriage contract with the Marschallin's notary and two Italian spies, Valzacchi and Annina, try to sell the Princess the lastest scandal sheets. Interrupting the tenor's song rudely, Ochs tells the lawyer to demand a dowry from Sophia's family, and leaves, but not before picking up the two Italians. Amist all the activity, the Marschallin remarks to her hairdresser: "My dear Hyppolete, today you have made me look like an old woman."
When all have left, the Marschallin, reminded by the predicament of Och's young bride of her own early marriage, sadly ponders her fleeting youth and the fickleness of Men. By the time Oktavian returns (in men's clothes), she has realized that one day he will leave her. She tells him so, and despite his fervent vows of love, she knows they will not last. He is stunned by her mood change and abruptly leaves. She suddenly realizes that she has forgotten to kiss him goodbye, and sends some footmen after him. But it is too late, and he is gone. The Marschallin summons her page to deliver the silver rose to Oktavian. After Mohammed departs, Marie Therese stares pensively into her hand mirror as the curtain fails.
Act II
In his ornate foyer, Herr von Faninal and Sophie await the arrival of the Rosenkavalier (Knight of the Rose), Oktavian. As per tradition, Fannal departs before the Knight appears. Sophie frets over her approaching marriage with a man she has never met as her duenna, Marianne, reports on the approach of Oktavian. Oktavian arrives with great pomp, dressed all in silver. He presents the silver rose to Sophie in an elaborate ceremony. Immedietly, the two young people connect and they sing a beautiful duet. Sophie and Oktavian begin to fall in love during a chaperoned conversation when Ochs enters with Sophie's Father. The country nobleman speaks familiarly with Oktavian (even though they've never met), examines Sophie like chattel and behaves generally like a cad. He exits to discuss money with her father. As Ochs's servants start to chase the maids, sending the household into an uproar. Sophie starts to weep, and Oktavian promises to help her and he embraces her, but they are discovered by Ochs's spies, who send for him. Ochs is only amused, considering the much-younger Oktavian no threat, but Oktavian's temper is raised enough to challenge the bull-headed Baron to a duel. The Baron receives a slight wound in the arm in the fracas and cries bloody murder. As a doctor is sent for, Sophie tells her father she never will marry the baron, but her father insists she will and threatens to send her to a convent. Oktavian is thrown out, and Sophie is sent to her room. As Ochs is left alone on the divan with his wounded arm in a sling, he begins to raise his spirits with a glass of port. Annina enters with a letter for Ochs from "Mariandel" (Oktavian) asking to meet him for a tete-a-tete. The now recovered and drunk Ochs, in anticipation of his eminent tryst, dances around the stage to one of the opera's many waltzes. He makes one mistake: He forgets to tip Annina.Act III
In a private room in an inn, Valzacchi and Annina have swiched alliances, and are helping Oktavian prepare a trap for the Baron. Ochs and "Mariandel" arrive for a private dinner. Ochs tries to seduce the seemingly willing chambermaid, though he is disturbed by her resemblance to Oktavian. The guilt-ridden baron catches glimpses of the heads of Oktavian's conspirators as they pop out of secret doors. A woman (Annina in disguise) rushes in claiming that Ochs is her husband and the father of her children, all of whom rush in crying "Papa! Papa!" As the confusion grows, Ochs calls for the Police.The police arrive, and to avoid a scandal, Ochs claims the "Mariandel" is his fiancée Sophie. Oktavian lets the Police Commissioner in on the trick, and the Officer plays along. Furious for being enmeshed in the scandal, Faninal arrives and sends for Sophie to clear his and his daughter's name. Sophie arrives and asks the baron to leave her alone. Just as Ochs is compleatly befuddeled and embarrassed, The Marschallin enters. The Princess sends the Police and all the others away, and orders the baron to leave gracefully, to retain some of his dignity. So, Ochs hightails it, escaping the various bill collectors. The Marschallin, Sophie and Oktavian are left alone.
The Marschallin recognizes that the day she so feared has come, and, as Oktavian hesitates between the two women, withdraws elegently to the next room to attend to Fanninal. As soon as she is gone, Sophie and Oktavian run to each others arms. Fanninal and the Marschallian return to find the lovers locked in embrace. After a few bittersweet glanches to her lost lover, the Princess departs with Fanninal. Sophie and Oktavian follow after another brief but estatic love duet, and the opera ends with the Marschallian's little black page, Mohammed, running in to retrive Sophie's handkerchief, which she has dropped, and racing out again after the departing nobility.
Noted arias
- "Die Zeit" (Marschallin)
- "Di rigori armato il seno" (Italian singer)
- The Presentation of the Rose duet "Mir ist die Ehre widerfahren" (Oktavian & Sophie)
- The trio "Marie Theres! Hab'mir's gelobt" (Oktavian, The Marschallin, Sophie)
- The final duet "Ist ein Traum/ Spur nur dich" (Oktavian & Sophie)
Sources
- Murray, David: Rosenkavalier, Der in 'The New Grove Dictionary of Opera', ed. Stanley Sadie (London, 1992) ISBN 0-333-73432-7
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.