First time in almost 50 years, ‘Der Rosenkavalier’ comes to IU

By Peter Jacobi H-T Columnist | pjacobi@heraldt.com

February 19, 2012, last update: 2/17 @ 6:17 pm

click here for original article

They all say the opera requires work, a lot of it. “Der Rosenkavalier,” that is.

Conductor David Effron says many professional companies shy away from its demands. For a university to attempt “Rosenkavalier” is, in his words, “newsworthy, major, an opportunity to show what this school is accomplishing. When we do it successfully, and I think we will, the students will remember it all their lives. And I hope the Bloomington audience will understand that this is special, so incredibly hard to produce.”

On Friday evening, IU Opera Theater opens its new production of this Richard Strauss masterpiece, a work done here only once before, in 1966, part of an era when casts were a blend of students and faculty, leading to a range of repertoire that included operas not deemed suitable for young singers. There’ll be no faculty in this “Rosenkavalier,” but a couple of guests to fill parts for which enough suitable student candidates could not be found.

Joining Maestro Effron on the production team are the Jacobs School’s gifted resident stage director Vincent Liotta, visiting set designer Bill Forrester, and Linda Pisano, head of costume design for IU Theater. Coming into this project, Effron had conducted one previous production; for his colleagues, this is a first.

“Watching it,” says Liotta, “I used to think of ‘Rosenkavalier’ as ‘The Marriage of Figaro’ with wrong sentiments. It is nothing of the sort. Strauss and his librettist, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, created something very much theirs, an opera profoundly human and engaging, a blend of broad comedy and sentiment, its story exploring the effects of encroaching maturity on companionship, sex, and love. There’s humor to deal with, along with the feelings generated by romance gained and lost.”

Fresh scene design

At Liotta’s behest, Forrester, a Seattle-based scenic designer last here for the 2009 production of Puccini’s “La Rondine,” has conceived a visual panorama that, against a backdrop of panels featuring buildings of old Vienna, populates the stage with a series of boxes, in and in front of which the action unfolds.

The boxes are meant to suggest, in far larger dimensions, the magical assemblages created in miniature by the reclusive and distinctive 20th century American artist Joseph Cornell, little worlds shaped out of found objects to induce feelings of nostalgia.

“We wanted to do something different from the classic ‘Rosenkavalier’ Bob O’Hearn designed here and for the Metropolitan,” Forrester explains, “different not to be different but to offer something fresh and, we believe, appropriate. We took inspiration from Cornell’s boxes, which contain just what’s needed in the way of content and allow a viewer’s imagination to take over.”

“The boxes evoke time and place,” adds Liotta. “Their presence, while stimulating the feel of fantasy, that of art and the theater, also gives the stage circumscribed three-dimensional areas with found objects, props that make the action real.”

Musically demanding

The opera, originally set in the mid-18th century, has been moved forward in time by several decades, a major reason being, strangely, to alter the costumes. “It’s the trouser role,” Pisano says. “The young Octavian is played by a woman. In the early 19th century, the male silhouette takes a shape that much more comfortably drapes on a female asked to portray the male Octavian. The styles of the period are handsome, and we’ve created vibrant colors, as inspired by Hogarth, colors that also help tell the story, differing as the scenes change from urban to country. It’s all going to be quite beautiful.”

“Rosenkavalier’s” musical requirements are considerable. On stage: three women — portraying the Marschallin, her teenage object of affection Octavian, and the young maiden Sophie, who will become Octavian’s enamored one. They have much to sing, and much of that in high register. The role of the Marschallin’s countrified cousin, Baron Ochs, calls for a basso with plenty of voice down deep. Even the smaller parts, says David Effron, are demanding. “Every one is significant.”

As for the orchestra, the IU Philharmonic, it started working on the score Nov. 1. “We rehearsed until Christmas break,” Effron recalls. “We even decided not to have a late fall semester concert so that we could spend more time on ‘Rosenkavalier.’ And we’ve been at it ever since. The music never stops. This opera lasts four hours. The technical demands on the orchestra are tremendous. There are no resting points. Just the matter of endurance for young musicians playing for all those hours: That’s an issue to be dealt with.

“The singers, too,” Effron continues. “The rhythms for them are very difficult, and the number of words, and the importance of the text. Different though ‘Rosenkavalier’ is, I liken the technical requirements to those of Stravinsky’s ‘Rite of Spring.’ The two compositions originate from the same time period in the early years of the 20th century. They sound different, of course, but they’re equal in the technical demands they make.”

Opera with heart

Effon notes that, “Above all others, ‘Rosenkavalier’ has everything in it. The music is glorious. The characters are unique. The story is engaging.”

To which director Liotta adds: “The opera has heart. It speaks to a bittersweet sense of love given up and fresh love arising. The feeling throughout is warm. This is so unlike Strauss’ previous operas, ‘Salome’ and ‘Elektra.’ There’s no shock value in ‘Rosenkavalier,’ no bombast. This is a gentle opera. It leaves a good feeling.”

As for that length Effron spoke of, there’s a story perhaps true, perhaps apocryphal that has Strauss, while conducting his own opera, leaning over to his concertmaster during the final act and whispering: “Isn’t this awfully long?”

“But maestro,” answered the concertmaster, “you composed it yourself.”

“I know,” answered Strauss, “but I never thought I’d have to conduct it.”

For us, come Friday and Saturday, this week and next, David Effron will do all that conducting. We’ll just be there listening and watching. You’ll find, I think, that though the score may be lengthy, the potential rewards are mighty.