Renée Fleming/Bo Skovhus/Michael Schade/Markus Eiche/Kurt Rydl/Angelika Kirchschlager
Wiener Staatsoper Orchester/Christoph Eschenbach
Dir: Marco Arturo Marelli
Recorded live at the Wiener Staatsoper June 27, 2013
C Major Unitel Classica Blu-ray DVD 716004
Capriccio was described by its creators – Richard Strauss and Clemens Krauss – as “a conversation piece for music in one act.” In fact, it was Strauss’ fifteenth and last opera, premiered in wartime Munich in 1942.
As the work of a 78-year-old composer it is remarkable. Yet it will probably always be a work for connoisseurs rather than the general public. For a one-act opera at about two and a half hours it is excessively long, and the musical style is almost continuous recitative. And the subject matter is, depending on your point of view, either rarified art or pretentious chit-chat. Some critics have even suggested it is little more than a make-work project for an aging composer.
Mark Pappenheim, the writer of the notes for this DVD summarizes the subject of the opera very well as “a dramatized debate about the true nature of opera, disguised as a romantic comedy in period dress.” Throughout the piece a poet (Olivier) and a composer (Flamand) argue about which is more important: the words or the music. Their other preoccupation is competing for the love of the Countess.
The first two hours of the opera can be exceedingly tedious but all is usually redeemed by the glorious last half hour in which the Countess ponders the two great issues: which is more important, the words or the music, and which man does she prefer, Olivier or Flamand? As so often in his best operas and tone poems Strauss saves the best until the last. From the Mondscheinmusik (Moonlight music) on the music is inspired and deeply moving.
On paper this is an excellent cast with Renée Fleming in one of her signature roles as the Countess. In his long overdue debut in the pit at the Vienna State Opera Christoph Eschenbach gets beautiful playing from the Vienna State Opera Orchestra. In this Blu-ray DVD both picture and sound are of the highest quality.
Also excellent is the traditional production by Marco Arturo Marelli. He plays it straight and he knows what he is doing. Given the rather esoteric nature of the libretto one would not be surprised to see directors try to liven up the proceedings with extraneous bits of business. A good example is a DVD from 2005 in which director Robert Carsen updates the period of the opera and throws in a few Nazis to gin it up even further. More about that production in a moment.
To date, Renée Fleming has appeared as the Countess in three DVD versions of Capriccio. The first from the Paris Opera dates from 2005 with Ulf Schirmer conducting, the second from a 2010 Met performance led by Andrew Davis, and the present version. That is extraordinary for an opera that is far from being a popular favourite. As I have mentioned, I don’t care for the 2005 Carsen production but Fleming is wonderful. Her intonation is sure, the sound is beautiful and she navigates Strauss’ long lines with total confidence. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the present performance. Even in the final scene she frequently sings out of tune and works hard to control dynamics. The costume designer didn’t do her any favours either. In the last scene she appears with enormous floppy bows on the front and back of her dress. They make her appear absurd when she needs to be glamorous and wise in the manner of a Marshallin or an Arabella.
Perhaps she had an off night. But one cannot help but wonder if this great artist at age 54 – when this performance was given – has reached the point in her career where she must consider retiring some of her roles. If this performance is typical of what she can do these days it is time for Fleming to move into roles with a lower tessitura and without the purity and accuracy required in Strauss and Mozart.
I have been a great Fleming fan since her early operatic successes in Houston in the 1990s. She has gone on to distinguish herself as a leading soprano all over the world and she has become a fixture at the Met both onstage as a singer and backstage as a host on the Met Live in HD productions. But time catches up with everyone and perhaps Fleming’s time is nearly up.
Canadian tenor Michael Shade is excellent as Flamand and baritone Markus Eiche makes a likeable artistic adversary. Bo Skovhus brings a welcome flair to the role of the Countess’s brother and Angela Kirchschlager sings well as the actress Clairon. The veteran Viennese bass Kurt Rydl in heavy whiskers and wild hair makes an appropriately dramatic theatre director.
DVD/BLU RAY available here.
Paul E. Robinson
- SCRUTINY | TSO Lets Berlioz Do The Talking In Season Opener - September 21, 2018
- RECORD KEEPING | Even Yannick Nézet-Séguin Can’t Make Us Love Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito - September 6, 2018
- RECORD KEEPING | Giovanna d’Arco With Anna Netrebko Explains Why The Best Operas Survive - August 30, 2018
