Arabella

A Viennese Bon Bon gone bad
Almost certainly the same production I saw in Berlin several years ago, a production I found so distasteful that I left before the first act ended. This is one of those awful stagings that make you wonder why it was "modernized". What was to be gained? Strauss" music is lush and lyrical; it cries out for a staging that reflects those qualities, not destroys them. So why was the opera so brutally gutted? To create controversy? To serve the hubris of those responsible? Or was it simply that a threadbare production is cheaper to stage than one calling for beautiful period costumes and settings. Whatever the reason, avoid this version and get the Te Kanawa or Ashley Putnam performances.
Better singing, too...much better.

An impressive Arabella
Sven-Eric Bechtolf's production of Richard Strauss' Arabella is set in 1930s Vienna rather than the original 1860s. However, the story transfers well to this time period as familial pressure with regards to the duty of a girl to marry well for her family is still very much in place despite the changing views and values of society in general.

The three stage sets - bedroom, ballroom and hotel lobby, are simple and effective - proving that you don't need to have massively complicated or overly expensive sets to produce a good opera. What is of importance is the quality of the performers and in this production, filmed at the Vienna State Opera, all the artists are of the finest quality both in their singing and in their acting abilities. Although I found the singing of the beginning of Act 1 a little stentorian this is perhaps a reflection of the powerful emotions being played out.

Emily Magee (an American soprano) makes a believable Arabella, torn between duty and...



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