2014 marks a year of celebration recognizing the 150th birthday year of
the German late-Romantic orchestral, operatic and lied master composer,
Richard Strauss (1864-1949). Arabella (premiered 1933, Dresden) was the
last of the half dozen Strauss works to feature a libretto by the great
Austrian writer Hugo von Hofmannsthal. This production, from the most
recent Salzburg Easter Festival is, after Capriccio, the second of
three Richard Strauss operas C Major is releasing in honor of the
composers birth, life and work. The star-laden cast includes soprano
Renèe Fleming, baritone Thomas Hampson, Albert Dohmen (Covent Garden,
Wiener Staatsoper, MET) and Gabriela Beaková (Wiener Staatsoper, Covent
Garden). With Christian Thielemann and the Staatskapelle Dresden, the
music of Richard Strauss is in the best of hands. (ORF) Thielemann gets
the best out of the cast...especially Renée Fleming with her luxurious
soprano FAZ. |