MUSIC REVIEW: Der Rosenkavalier, RLPO/Strobel

Jun 17 2008 by Glyn Mon Hughes, Liverpool Daily Post

The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra in concert _240

ON THE face of it, people in 1926 did some strange things.

For, here we were in the Philharmonic, watching a silent film of an opera. No wonder we all drew a blank when it came to naming the singers in this particular production of Der Rosenkavalier.

Yet, there’s the problem. Mention that particular stage production and it’s Richard Strauss’s opulent opera which comes to mind. It’s not the stage play of Hugo von Hofmannsthal.

So, after all, things were not that strange in 1926 when the people of Dresden sat down in the Semperoper to watch the flickering black and white film.

In Liverpool, however, we were treated to the UK premiere of Strauss’s own arrangement of his opera score – along with borrowings from elsewhere in his extensive output – which accompanied the film. Most of the film is still there, although it does come to an abrupt end with a caption saying that is where the surviving film ends. That little cliffhanger drew an audible gasp of disbelief, so the end was a bit of a jumbled melee of trailers and stills.

However, the film itself showed the actors in exquisite and expensive costumes and sets which implied that money was no object in this particular production.

And the music? Surprisingly, this was a piece for a "salon" orchestra – presumably a chamber group. But, with 80-plus musicians on the platform, this was no small undertaking. It was also a long and exhausting effort for the players – 115 minutes of non-stop playing.

Under the baton of Frank Strobel, making his Liverpool debut, the RLPO could wallow in the delicious harmonic language of Strauss, expertly timing their performance to the action on screen – no mean feat.

They’ve done this kind of thing before but, somehow, this seemed an altogether grander occasion which brought a rarity to life, once again. Let’s hope it’s something which can be repeated in the near future.