DER ROSENKAVALIER

After the archaic one-act operas Salome and Elektra , Richard Strauss set out in search of comedic material for his next opera. In Rosenkavalier he worked with librettist Hugo von Hofmannsthal to paint a portrait of an amusingly decadent rococo Vienna. At the center of the plot are the Field Marshal and her young gallant Octavian, who falls in love with Sophie. However, the latter is also courted by the marshal's cousin, Baron Ochs ... Strauss' score is bursting with tonal opulence and waltzing verve, but also reveals morbid moments. The character of the Marschallin is emblematic of this, reflecting the transience of existence as early as the first act. Claus Guth's production - a "black comedy with fatal consequences" (Deutschlandfunk) - picks up on this thematic impulse. Set in a turn-of-the-century sanatorium, Strauss and Hofmannsthal's masterpiece comes into its own in a profoundly cheerful way.