Richard Strauss’s opera Arabella is a work of virtuosic nostalgia. In July 1933, when Germany had already taken its first steps into the inferno, Strauss produced a glittering romance full of fancy balls, last waltzes, mistaken identities, and virginal kisses. With music that recalled his 1911 opera Rosenkavalier, set in the Vienna of half a century before that and centered on an ancient family well past its glory days, Arabella is a layer cake of wistfulness. The Metropolitan Opera has ladled out its own stock of memories. The late Otto Schenck’s production, a gilded cornucopia of wrought-iron balustrades, circular settees, chandeliers, and drapery, originated during the Reagan years and hasn’t been seen here since 2001. The deluxe, ahh-inducing décor is profoundly out of fashion at the Met, but in this piece it feels just right.Strauss in his ballroom-and-boudoir mode demands tenderness, humor, and delicacy, and conductor Philippe Auguin obliges,...
- 4/4/2014
- by Justin Davidson
- Vulture
Geneva -- Swiss-born soprano Lisa Della Casa, a member of the Vienna State Opera whose performances of Mozart and Richard Strauss won her wide acclaim as one of the finest sopranos of her generation, has died at the age of 93.
The Vienna State Opera, where she had given more than 400 performances, said she died on Monday in the northern Swiss town of Muensterlingen.
Salzburg Festival President Helga Rabl-Stadler recalled Della Casa's performances as "sublime moments for which she was celebrated by audiences and critics."
Della Casa was born near the Swiss capital Bern in 1919 and later trained in Zurich. She first performed in 1941 in the Swiss town of Solothurn-Biel, in the title role of Madame Butterfly, and went on to perform on many of the world's great opera stages including the Metropolitan Opera, the Royal Opera House and La Scala.
With her Covent Garden debut as Richard Strauss's Arabella...
The Vienna State Opera, where she had given more than 400 performances, said she died on Monday in the northern Swiss town of Muensterlingen.
Salzburg Festival President Helga Rabl-Stadler recalled Della Casa's performances as "sublime moments for which she was celebrated by audiences and critics."
Della Casa was born near the Swiss capital Bern in 1919 and later trained in Zurich. She first performed in 1941 in the Swiss town of Solothurn-Biel, in the title role of Madame Butterfly, and went on to perform on many of the world's great opera stages including the Metropolitan Opera, the Royal Opera House and La Scala.
With her Covent Garden debut as Richard Strauss's Arabella...
- 12/12/2012
- by AP
- Huffington Post
Swiss soprano renowned for her beauty and singing of Strauss
When the Swiss soprano Lisa Della Casa, who has died aged 93, made her Covent Garden debut in the title role of Richard Strauss's Arabella on the Bavarian State Opera's visit to London in 1953, she won all hearts with the beauty of her singing and of her appearance. This role became her trademark, and when the Royal Opera decided to stage its own production of the work in 1965, Della Casa was, of course, the Arabella, with Georg Solti in the pit.
The producer was Rudolf Hartmann, who had done much to launch Della Casa's career on an international level. That career had begun in 1941 in the Swiss town of Solothurn-Biel, where she made her debut in the title role of Madama Butterfly. She joined the Zurich Opera House in 1943, appearing as the First Boy in The Magic Flute, later ascending...
When the Swiss soprano Lisa Della Casa, who has died aged 93, made her Covent Garden debut in the title role of Richard Strauss's Arabella on the Bavarian State Opera's visit to London in 1953, she won all hearts with the beauty of her singing and of her appearance. This role became her trademark, and when the Royal Opera decided to stage its own production of the work in 1965, Della Casa was, of course, the Arabella, with Georg Solti in the pit.
The producer was Rudolf Hartmann, who had done much to launch Della Casa's career on an international level. That career had begun in 1941 in the Swiss town of Solothurn-Biel, where she made her debut in the title role of Madama Butterfly. She joined the Zurich Opera House in 1943, appearing as the First Boy in The Magic Flute, later ascending...
- 12/11/2012
- by Alan Blyth
- The Guardian - Film News
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