Richard Strauss - Der Rosenkavalier / Solti, Te Kanawa, Bonney, Howells, Haugland, Covent Garden

Rating:
Summary: Superlative
Review: Perfect casting, and a near perfect performance. Well acted and well sung. The last 20 minutes is as sublime as any musical experience one could want to have.

Rating:
Summary: Excellence on Multiple Levels
Review: With Strauss' music, the incomparable Kiri Te Kanawa, Sir Georg Solti, an ideal cast and video direction by Brian Large, how could you go wrong? In this case, you can't. Anne Howells (though far too feminine to be convincing as a male) and Barbara Bonney are outstanding. Aage Haugland and Cynthia Buchan are vocally talented and give truly humorous performances. The trio near the end of Act III has to be the most sublime music Strauss ever wrote, and the tune the "Italian Singer" (Dennis O'Neil) performs in Act I for the Marschallin is unforgettable.

In a technically perfect world, this would have been recorded in 16:9 video format, rather than 4:3, but in 1985, who knew? Though the disc has only a single audio track, it is of excellent quality, and my sixty-year-old eyes have no trouble at all with the subtitles (the white-on-white that some have found difficult to read).

This is an opulent, poignant, humorous production with a world-class orchestra and conductor, a once-in-a-lifetime cast and beautiful sets and costumes. Five stars!