Der Rosenkavalier - Opera

BY EVAN BAKER
SAN FRANCISCO OPERA ASSOCIATION
Designing and Rehearsing Der Rosenkavalier:
Alfred Roller and Staging the Opera
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fter the second performance of Richard Strauss’s
Der Rosenkavalier in Dresden (January 28, 1911),
the librettist Hugo von Hofmannsthal proudly
reported to his father of the opera’s continuing success. It was
“symptomatic and [the opera] will be a great success… and I feel
that this opera will hold its own in the repertory for many years,
even decades, to come.” The triumph of the opera ensured its
place in the repertory that endures to this day.
After their brilliant success with Elektra (Dresden, 1909), Strauss
and Hofmannsthal sought to create an opera set in an entirely different milieu: Der Rosenkavalier, a comedy of manners in eighteenthcentury Vienna during the reign of the Empress Maria Theresa.
The rococo styles offered splendid opportunities for a rich visual
Dr. Evan Baker is an educator, writer, and lecturer on operatic history
and production, including Mozart's travels in Italy and the court theater in Mozart's Vienna; his doctoral thesis was written about Alfred
Roller's production of Mozart's Don Giovanni.
experience of architecture, mode, and manners that would bring to
life “a half-real, half-imaginary world of the Vienna of 1740.”
Both the composer and the librettist realized that conventional
opera production values would have no place in Der Rosenkavalier.
Strauss acknowledged as much after his first reading of Hofmannsthal’s draft of the first act. “All of the roles are splendid,
and sharply defined. Unfortunately, very good actors are needed;
the usual opera singers won’t do.” Hofmannsthal shared the
composer’s judgment, but assured him that only the singer for
the role of Baron Ochs von Lerchenau needed to be exceptional.
He also proposed that Alfred Roller design not only the entire
production, but also create a detailed staging manual with precise
blocking for the singers, chorus, and supernumeraries. Both
Strauss and Hofmannsthal recognized the value of Roller’s
extraordinary talent as designer and stage director at the Vienna
Court Opera as well as the exceptionally successful Berlin-based
Austrian stage director, Max Reinhardt.
Alfred Roller (1864–1935), a native of what is now Brno,
Roller’s design for the Marschallin’s bedroom in Act One.
Czech Republic, was a highly respected teacher (and later director) at the Vienna School for the Applied Arts and designer for
opera and the theater. A founding member along with Gustav
Klimt, Koloman Moser, and Josef Hoffmann of the Vienna Secession, an art movement formed in 1897, Roller played a crucial role
in its evolution. This was an agglomeration of ideas and philosophies, for all its members had their own aesthetic identity albeit
with some similarities to the “curving styles” found in Jugendstil or
Art Nouveau. Emphasis was given to the ideal of unity: all forms
of art should come together to provide a Gesamtkunstwerk or a
“total work of art” that included a key element: Stimmung—“ambience.” These ideas were fundamental to Roller’s artistic values. As
director of production at the Vienna Court Opera (1903–1909),
he undertook a sweeping reform of the scenic arts. Excess decoration was banished; every element of opera staging had a specific
purpose. In addition, Roller was among the first to use lighting as
a fundamental part of the stage production.
Several weeks after the Viennese premiere of Elektra on March
24, 1909, Hofmannsthal discussed with Roller the scenario for
the still untitled opera. Both saw that extraordinary demands
would be placed on the production—a new style in stage directing would be required. Hofmannsthal wrote to Strauss, “It will be
hard work but conditio sine qua non to maintain the work throughout upcoming decades. This style, new and homogeneous, may
seem strange at first, but it will gradually be accepted.” Strauss’s
publisher, Otto Fürstner would print the designs and the staging
manual. That Strauss subsequently required theaters to use
Roller’s materials as part of the performance contract generated
controversy but, in the end, he remained firm. Theater directors,
sensing artistic and financial success, grudgingly capitulated.
Strauss’s and Hofmannsthal’s attention to minutiae of staging
was striking. Each stage setting received detailed descriptions in
the libretto, the piano-vocal scores, and the full scores. Less well
known is Roller’s overall contribution with his staging manual
that contained not only descriptions of the settings and costumes,
but also instructions for the construction and painting of the
scenery. Further directives included lighting effects that would
establish the mood and atmosphere in conjunction with the
music and the text. Roller stressed that the settings and colors
should be as close as possible to those of his designs.
In the staging manual, Roller wrote that the set for Act One
“is a typical high-ceilinged, symmetrically laid-out room of posh
splendor; it is more pompous than comfortable and hygienic. Not
quite a lady’s private room but, contrary to our concept of a bedroom, simply too much architectural detail and pathos.” Much
detail follows: The “large bed… should be covered with white silk
sheets, a bolster covered with white, frilly silk sheets as well, and
two small white satin feather blankets, of which one lies on the
floor…. Over the bed hangs a pompous canopy from the ceiling.
Its outside curtains are of gold damask with gold fringe…. Above
the curtains is a carved wooden crown of gold, topped off with
white ostrich feathers.” Roller’s lighting instructions suggested
that the curtains in the right alcove should be translucent, allowing in the morning light. One curtain should already be open,
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and when Octavian closes it, the general lighting should darken
somewhat. The soft lighting through the front window then
should increase gradually and imperceptibly to full brightness.
Staging the opening of Act One with the bed raised the concerns of Count Nikolaus von Seebach, intendant of the Dresden
Court Theater. Seebach protested to Strauss that seeing the
Marschallin lying in bed with Octavian holding her hand while
kneeling on the floor was morally repugnant. Strauss replied, “In
Dresden, if one takes objection and won’t believe that people
who sleep lie in bed, the Marschallin can already be out of bed
and standing. For other, more pleasant functions, the bed is certainly known not to be necessary. I have no feeling for such theatrical aesthetics; I conduct my own private life properly and
therefore have no need for such prudishness.” In the end, a compromise: Roller noted in the staging manual that the Marschallin
is “seated on a small sofa. Octavian kneels before her on a small
footstool, held with a cuddling embrace in her lap. His head rests
on her breast, and her face is hidden in his hair.”
The second-floor reception room in Faninal’s “palace” in Act
Two was described by Roller as “a pretentious high hall with a
barrel-vaulted ceiling, through which all display of splendor
makes a more ostentatious than elegant effect. Everything looks
new, cold, and unlived-in.” Lighting was carefully plotted, particularly to maximize the theatrical effect of Octavian’s grand
entrance with his retinue for the presentation of the rose. The
manual precisely notes Octavian’s movements. As soon as the last
of the retinue take their place on stage, “one sees Octavian standing in the bright sunshine, gracefully holding the silver rose in his
right hand and he immediately enters the scene. His elegant
poise as he gradually approaches stands in contrast to the martial
entrance of his attendants.”
The “private room” of the inn in Act Three, Roller notes, “is
neither new nor elegant. Through many renovations and adaptations, this room has taken shape by accident, and it appears even
more so by the incomprehensible placement of the windows. The
room has old painted, not too clean walls, shabby cornices, and a
low white ceiling.” Primary lighting comes from wax candles in
the wall sconces; at every entrance and exit of people holding
candelabras, the room should brighten and darken respectively.
Moonlight filters into the scene through the left window.
At first, the opera was to be called Ochs von Lerchenau, but Hofmannsthal had objected. Needing a title to place on the set and
costume designs, Roller pressed Strauss for a decision, whereupon the composer with exasperated humor replied, “I don’t like
Rosenkavalier. I like Ochs! But what am I to do? Hofmannsthal
loves the delicate, ethereal, and so my wife tells me: Rosenkavalier.
All right then, Rosenkavalier! To hell with it all!” Roller discreetly
labeled each design “Hofmannsthal—Strauss: Opera-Buffa.”
Through October 1910, Roller worked on more than fortyfive costume designs, treating them with importance equal to the
three settings. The costumes should signal each character’s social
status. Men’s breeches, for example, for the “elegant” characters—Octavian, Faninal, and the Italian Singer—are shorter
and better fitted than for those who are “coarse, inelegant, or
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RON SCHERL
Left: Brigitte Fassbaender as Octavian in the 1985 production.
Below: Elisabeth Schwarzkopf made her North American debut as the
Marschallin in the 1955 San Francisco Opera production. She returned to the
sing the role with the Company four more times (1957, 1960, 1962, 1964).
clumsy”—Ochs, his retinue, and Valzacchi. At one point, Hofmannsthal proposed that the Marschallin should not have a full
fur robe for her morning wear, but instead a “flowering brocade
robe with small fur trim… it should be more of a morning dress
rather than a complete cloak”—a suggestion incorporated by
the designer. After seeing several designs during a visit to Vienna
in April 1910, Strauss joyfully wrote to Hofmannsthal, “Roller’s
costumes are magnificent!” By the end of October, the designs
were in Fürstner’s hands, who began reproducing them in color
on large sheets of art paper to be placed in a decorative portfolio
along with the descriptions of sets and costumes.
Wanting only the best for their new opera, Strauss and Hofmannsthal, in addition to Roller, invited Max Reinhardt to participate in the final stage rehearsals. Bad feelings at the Dresden Court
Theater ensued, forcing Strauss to exercise his diplomatic skills to
delineate the roles of house director Georg Toller with those of
Reinhardt and Roller. Strauss informed Roller of the details:
… I have now arranged for the following: Toller, with your
staging manual in hand, will block the singers alone in the
first week of January…. It is planned for the second week…
you and Hofmannsthal will work on stage together with
Toller while Reinhardt—of whom the Dresden staff has a
hellish fear—will observe discreetly from the auditorium. He
will take notes and wherever possible pass them indirectly on
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SAN FRANCISCO OPERA
to you, Hofmannsthal, and the Dresden stage director.
According to our genial Count Seebach, Reinhardt should
avoid all direct participation in the production; everything
should be arranged through discreet and private discussions
between you, Hofmannsthal, and the director Toller. I have,
however, arranged to leave the door open in case nothing
works, so that Reinhardt will be able to work privately in a
small room on the acting of the individual singers. That is
the primary thing, for which Reinhardt is most needed….
That no one in Dresden has the slightest idea of how to work
out thoroughly the acting and dramatic requirements [during the rehearsals], shows that they have the greatest fear
from yours and Reinhardt’s imminent revolution.
In the midst of the Reinhardt controversy, Roller’s staging manual assumed crucial importance. Strauss did not have a high opinion of Toller’s capabilities with this new work, believing him “being
only a routined and ‘normal’ opera stage director, hardly capable
of staging this kind of comedy.” Hofmannsthal replied that he and
Roller were notating precisely all of movements and gestures to the
music, which would allow even “the dumbest provincial stage
director will hardly miss a nuance or position on the stage.”
Blocking rehearsals commenced during the first two weeks of
January, 1911. Despite having Roller’s instructions on hand, Toller
could only indicate the entrances, positions on the stage, and the
exits of the performers. Strauss, Roller, Hofmannsthal, and Rein2006/2007 S
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Right: Alexander Kipnis performed the role of Baron von Ochs in 1940 and 1941
with the Company.
Below : Sena Jurinac as the Marschallin in the 1971 production.
hardt actually arrived on the morning of January 16 for the first
complete stage rehearsal of Act One. Hofmannsthal reported that
Toller’s poor results created a “depressing impression with Strauss
completely red-faced and near tears.” After painful conferences,
rehearsals began anew with Reinhardt quietly and tactfully taking
command. Working privately with the singers away from the
stage, Reinhardt coaxed and coached their acting skills. Soon, he
became a direct participant in the stage rehearsals while Roller
worked on the final preparations of the sets and costumes, as well
as blocking of the chorus and the supernumeraries.
Within seven days, Reinhardt worked wonders. Hofmannsthal
recalled on the morning of the final dress rehearsal:
… when we rehearsed with the orchestra and the colorful
settings on stage, only Reinhardt quietly moved around,
and everything started becoming more and more real;
always definite, always elegant, unobtrusive, and finally so
human, and so eighteenth-century, something that I have
never before seen on stage. Roller has created that for us,
with such unbelievable talent and total dedication.… And
then the wonderful evenings from 7 until 11 in the small
rehearsal room, he worked tirelessly with the three women:
the Marschallin, blonde and a bit voluptuous, Quin-Quin
[Octavian], and the touching, indescribably charming
Sophie. She is a young woman, or perhaps not so young,
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but of an undefined age, but for me a person of nameless
charm, as if never in the theater, so touching, so helpless….
I simply cannot turn away when she is on the stage.
The premiere on January 26, 1911 was a triumph. Oscar Bie
in the Berlin Berliner Börsen-courier summed up the reactions of the
public and the critics:
The stage displayed sumptuous scenes: the rich gold chamber of the Marschallin, the Porcelain construction of the
newly rich Faninal, and the secluded lasciviousness of the
Inn…. The harmony of the costumes came out so convincingly as the creator, Alfred Roller conceived it. I firmly
believe that I have never seen as elegant and yet lively theatrical harmony: it was the highest level of music and poetry.
The stage directing, in which Max Reinhardt visibly
participated, seemed to me so exemplary for the modern
opera, and I would require all to study. The lighting was
calculated to the smallest effect, the natural and yet
restrained positioning of the singers, the machinery of
movement and light in these costumes and settings was a
second music to Strauss’s, an organic connection between
the time of the libretto and timeless music. Four artists—
Strauss, Hofmannsthal, Roller, and Reinhardt—and a total
work of art.
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