![]() ![]() A surfeit of stage gems, including a necklace weighing about 1,000 carats and gigantic faux aquamarine and diamond brooches on both the front and back of the Lacroix-in-Liberace mode ball gown, took away from the potential elegance of the production. The Gräfin must also have had a good nose for the grape because she was serving Veuve Cliquot, which had only been founded by Philippe Clicquot-Muiron three years before.ĭagmar Niefind’s costumes were for the most part period-appropriate except for questionable orange wigs and an ice-blue butterfly-winged creation worn by the confused châtelaine in the closing scene. The revolve was actually used to excess and often seemed more like a dizzy, glitzy 18th-century carousel. 1775, although the excess of silver and mirrors smacked of von Faninal nouveau riche as opposed to von Werdenberg bon goût. Most were foreign tourists understandably bored with the endless prattle in rapid German and tired of looking at the English translation on tiny screens in front of their seats.ĭirector and metteur-en-scène Marco Arturo Macelli’s revolving stage set represented several rooms of the Gräfin’s sumptuous château near Paris c. At the performance under review, a lot of people walked out even before the Italian soprano got tipsy. In the absence of a great Gräfin, productions of this opera are almost as rare as “Feuersnot” or “Friedenstag.” Furthermore, the two and a half hour uninterrupted aria-less “conversation” makes “Capriccio” relatively difficult for most audiences, especially non-German speakers. Characterized by its numerous musical in-jokes and recondite verbosity, the opera is undoubtedly an acquired taste. The addition of a theatre director and even a prompter widens the debate to a discussion of the performing arts in general. With a minimal “opera within an opera” plot involving the relative merits of words over music as personified by rival poet/composer suitors for the Gräfin’s phlegmatic affections, there isn’t really much action. It was as if Strauss and librettist Clemens Krauss were writing something for their own intellectual amusement rather than appealing to the bourgeois box office. For a start, it isn’t even called an opera but a “Conversation Piece for Music.” Many Strauss scholars are baffled by this highly cerebral, seemingly escapist bagatelle composed in the midst of the mayhem of World War II. After that he committed to remaining on vocal rest until his haematoma “completely subsided.” This forced him to cancel numerous engagements, including a debut in Monte Carlo, the Grand Opening concert Hamburg as well as the Nobel Prize ceremony.Of Richard Strauss’ 15 completed operas, his last opus “Capriccio” is arguably the most abstruse. The tenor has been taking a leave of absence since October after announcing that side effects from medication had caused a haematoma. Kaufmann recently received rave reviews for his big return to the stage in Wagner’s “Lohengrin” in Paris. The news comes days after Kaufmann unveiled the upcoming release of his recording of Mahler’s “Das Lied Von Der Erde.” He is presumably singing both parts in the famed work, though no confirmation or release date has been announced as of yet. He will be singing selections from Bizet’s “Carmen” and Lehar’s “Das Land des Lächelns.” This would mark his first invitation to the annual event, which is one of the major social events of Viennese society. The latest news features the tenor performing at the famed Vienna Opera Ball on Feb. ![]() Jonas Kaufmann recently made his big return to the opera world after a long hiatus and he’s releasing major news on a daily basis.
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