Until now.
So I thought.
A real operafest in which the ears are taking a trip through a musical landscape of impeccable beauty
The stage was a combination of old and new. I saw the world of ballrooms in Vienna infused with elements of modern life. Things I see when I go out. Like a man who is trying to sell you a rose in a bar. And it worked perfectly. The personenregie was like the best things I've ever seen. The singers were great actors. Exactly as Strauss intended. He was influenced in more than one way by Wagner. Der Rosenkavalier is no number opera, it is composed as one long line so no possibility for the audience to acclaim after each aria. For the better. I know it is tradition in Italian and French opera but applause after an aria serves the ego of the soloist at the expense of the flow. I think of them as commercial breaks and I am kind of allergic for them.
Der Rosenkavalier ends in a hotel (or inn) where the whole thing progresses into a Marx Brothers kind of mayhem. And equally as funny. Forget that remark about German humor. This was “A Night At The Opera” to remember. And I can't find words to praise it enough.