Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier: highlights (Chandos Opera in English)
Opera in English is almost as contentious a business as opera with surtitles, especially when the opera in question is this one, with its famously poetic libretto by Hugo Von Hoffmannsthal. Wisely, perhaps, Alfred Kalisch's translation is more pragmatic than poetic, and the effect is very powerful (similar, in fact, to that of surtitles in the opera house: suddenly, effortlessly, you understand everything), enhanced by the necessarily brutal highlights paring process, which clears off all the froth and throws the toy-boy-meets-girl story-line into surprisingly sharp focus. A strong cast, too: Yvonne Kenny as the indeterminately-aged Marschallin, Diana Montague as Octavian and Rosemary Joshua as Sophie - and luscious playing from the London Philharmonic under David Parry. Opera in English? More, please.
By Arminta Wallace