Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		4.0

Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier Blu-ray Movie Review

Strauss' most accessible opera is presented in one of its most iconic versions, starring Elisabeth Schwarzkopf.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman November 24, 2010

Richard Strauss wrote two of the most arcane and discordant operas in the 20th century repertoire, Elektra and Salome, and his music theater work is often thought of as a strident and sometimes unpleasant sibling to his more lush and romantic (in both senses of the term) orchestral music. Both of his “mythic” operas relish in declamatory vocal lines, insane sounding intervals which leap to and fro with abandon, illuminating plot lines that are operatic in the most hyperbolic sense. It’s been posited that Strauss was out to prove a point with Der Rosenkavalier, one which may strike some people as more than a bit funny. As with anyone who shares a famous surname with another well known personage, Richard was not especially pleased when people assumed he was either the Waltz King, or at least related to him. No, Richard was most definitely not Johann, and R. Strauss evidently wanted to show the world what a real waltz by a real composer sounded like. Whether or not this story is apocryphal really doesn’t matter, because the upshot is that Strauss (that would be Richard, not Johann) crafted one of his most sumptuously beautiful pieces in Der Rosenkavalier, an opera that manages to have an “adult conversation” about several poignant issues like aging and the vagaries of love, while never sinking into pathos or hysteria. The music is effortlessly ebullient, almost Mozartian at times, with glorious melodies and Strauss’ inerrant and brilliant orchestration bolstering the instrumental side of things.

A couple of generations ago, Budapest born émigré Paul Czinner made a number of well received films of various operas, and this version of Der Rosenkavalier was among his most highly acclaimed. Czinner was a more or less openly gay man in a time when that wasn’t just frowned on, it was a crime (in the Nazi era especially, from which Czinner thankfully escaped). Czinner actually married film actress Elisabeth Bergner, and the two had a long and successful personal and professional relationship (Czinner directed Bergner to her only Oscar nomination, in 1936’s Escape Me Never). Bergner may be best remembered by American audiences for her turn in As You Like It, but backstage gossip has long linked her to one of the iconic films of Hollywood’s Golden Age: Bergner has been said to have been the basis for the ineffable Margo Channing in All About Eve. If that’s the case (and it seems likely it is), Czinner no doubt had learned how to deal with a prima dona, and that ability no doubt came in handy in this film version of Der Rosenkavalier, where he was directing one of the primordial operatic talents of the 20th century, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, in a role many critics said she was not only born to play, but also played better than any of her competitors.

Der Rosenkavalier is a rather simple comedy of errors and manners, wherein the aging Marschallin (Schwarzkopf) is engaged in an affair with the much younger Octavian (sung by a woman, in this case Sena Jurinac). Marschallin is plagued by her uncouth Baron cousin, Ochs (Otto Edelmann), who arrives unexpectedly at her palace to seek her help in making a proposal to his much younger prospective fiancée, Sophie (Anneliese Rothenberger). If you’re at all adept in connecting the operatic dots, you may see the outcome of this ménage a quatre before anything else is said. Things are helped along when Ochs must find a “Knight of the Rose” (der Rosenkavalier, in case you were wondering) who will present Sophie with a token of Ochs’ affections in order to announce his marital intentions. Need it even be said that Marschallin nominates Octavian to do the honors?

This is an admittedly old fashioned opera, and it was even in Strauss’ own day, something which may indeed have caught his audience, used by then to his enfant terrible reputation, completely off guard. Czinner stages the piece without many bells and whistles, and so for some modern day audiences used to the often egregious revisions that classic operas are burdened with, may find this reading a bit too staid and formal for their tastes. And what a shame that would be, for Schwarzkopf is without a doubt one of the finest, if not the finest, Marschallins imaginable, working both the comedic side of the equation, as well as the very real angst which is part of a character who realizes she is probably past her prime and cannot conscientiously keep Octavian for herself.

Filmed in 1962 in Salzburg (at their then sparkling new Festspielhaus) under the baton of a rather dashingly young looking Herbert von Karajan, this Der Rosenkavalier is courtly rather than overly expressive, but don’t mistake that reticence and patrician cool for a lack of emotion. Schwarzkopf is a “cool” presence on screen, but that coolness works for this character, whose façade is part and parcel of her problem. Any doubts as to her interpretive skills should be laid to rest by the end of the Act I monologue, which is quite simply a tour de force from both a technical and performance standpoint. While sets are minimal, they adequately recreate a lavish lifestyle, and the camerawork here is exceptional, especially for an early 1960s live performance, with excellent coverage and good variety. The Vienna Philharmonic plays with flash and élan, bringing out all the stunning glory of Strauss’ orchestral writing.

This wonderful film has had a spotty release history, and has been in and out of print over the years, establishing itself as one of the “must have” cult items for a certain segment of the opera loving public. With this new Blu-ray transfer, hopefully it can stay in print long enough for fans to gobble it up, for it most certainly is a feast worthy of a Waltz King—Richard Strauss.

Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Der Rosenkavalier waltzes onto Blu-ray with an appealing VC-1 encode, in 1080p and 1.66:1. You DNR-phobes will rejoice to note that this outing is awash in very noticeable grain, and that speaks to a minimal, probably nonexistent, attempt to clean up the source elements. What remains, while sometimes a tad soft looking, is considerably sharper than previous VHS releases and DVD releases, with nicely saturated, if subtle, color. The costumes here are quite lavish, and the Blu-ray reveals a whole new level of detail, down to fabric stitching level, that simply wasn't visible before. This is a nicely filmic looking piece, with great depth and texture, so unlike the 1080i video (albeit HD video) presentations contemporary opera lovers are accustomed to seeing from Opus Arte and the like. This certainly is nowhere near as sharp as any of the current day outings from the modern day labels, but for anyone who has seen this Rosenkavalier in any of its many previous home video releases, they are almost certain to be pleased with this new Blu-ray offering.

Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is one fairly bad anomaly to report in the uncompressed LPCM 2.0 track that accompanies Der Rosenkavalier, but I have been assured by Kultur that it exists in the source elements themselves (it's been some time since I've seen a DVD of this title, so I can't conclusively confirm)—namely, a one or two second lack of audio at about 30:14. Aside from that unfortunate occurrence, this Rosenkavalier benefits from a nicely robust, if obviously quite narrow, LPCM track that delivers plenty of punch through various frequency ranges. Schwarzkopf sounds liquid and intense, her highs never strident and with not a sign of distortion. The orchestra similarly sounds lush and full, if constantly massed without the depth and separation we've come to expect from modern day 5.1 mixes. The performance here is obviously topnotch, and the uncompressed track is like peeling a thin veneer of guaze off of this recording, offering it in a newly crystalline version that is sure to delight virtually all listeners.

Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

No supplements are offered on this Blu-ray.

Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Charming but surprisingly thoughtful, Der Rosenkavalier is a breath of fresh air from Richard Strauss, a composer who often indulged in orchestral and vocal hyperbole the likes of which had rarely been experienced before. Elisabeth Schwarzkopf is a near-perfect heroine in this poignantly comic look at aging and starcrossed lovers. Though this is not a flashy production, it's of such inestimable historical value, and presents this opera in such a glorious performance, that it's easy to overlook some of the technical issues of this Blu-ray. Highly recommended.