Der Rosenkavalier,
Der Rosenkavalier,
Glyndebourne, Sussex
Kate Molleson
Richard Jones's new production of Der Rosenkavalier made headlines for all the wrong reasons. Earlier this week, several prominent opening-night reviews included negative comments about the body shape of the mezzo-soprano playing Octavian (Tara Erraught). A media storm ensued, with cries of chauvinism from the singing world and defensive retaliation from some of the critics. The affair even earned its own Twitter hashtag: #taragate. And so Robin Ticciati's debut as Glyndebourne's new music director came and went under a bizarre fracas. The Scottish Chamber Orchestra's principal is the seventh conductor to hold the position in the house's 80-year history. With its luxurious rehearsal periods and familial atmosphere, it should suit him to a T; no doubt #taragate was what he least expected in his first week on the job.
There is an irony here, in that Strauss's opera deals in prejudice and superficiality. The odious Baron Ochs (Lars Woldt) flagrantly objectifies young Sophie (Teodora Gheorghiu) as he eyes her up for marriage - "it's like horse-trading," she fumes. Jones's slick production is laced with surreality: ghoulish masks, vaudeville choreography. It looks great, but the opera's tender heart gets lost.
The cast is impressive, particularly Kate Royal's wistful, silvery-voiced Marschallin. Erraught has a beautiful voice for Octavian - warm, light, supple - but she doesn't clinch the role. This has nothing to do with her figure (which, incidentally, is perfectly healthy-looking); she simply doesn't act with enough charisma. Ticciati conducts the London Philharmonic Orchestra devotedly, fluently, with poised waltzes, playful skittishness and diligent support for the singers. A roar of cheers went up as he took his bow.
Why are you making commenting on HeraldScotland only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article