Der Rosenkavalier is one of my favourite operas but I must admit to finding this production rather tedious. Librettist Hugo von Hofmannsthal must have given very explicit stage directions since, in every version I have ever seen, the set is the same, the costumes are the same and all the details of the drama are identical. Perhaps this is why repeated viewings of this opera produce a feeling of ennui that I do not experience with other works.
The three female leads are, in theory, an ideal cast but collectively they lack chemistry. Renée Fleming is perfect, as you would expect, as the Marschallin. Christine Schaffer looks rather lost as Sophie. Susan Graham, as Octavian, does not convince, either as a man or dressed up as the maid Mariandel. I ought to add that my criticism applies only to their dramatic interpretations of the roles. The three musical high-spots of this opera: the Act 1 finale, the presentation of the rose and the Act 3 trio are meltingly beautiful. Unfortunately, on this occasion, the pantomime aspects of the opera with Baron Ochs, Valzacchi and Annina left me cold.
I started by indicating how sacrosanct this opera seems to be. I recently saw English National Opera's disastrous production of Lucrezia Borgia in which the trouser role of Orsini was played as a woman. This did not work at all but it did set me thinking that the time might be right for a gay production of Der Rosenkavalier. I cannot for the life of me see why the Marshallin's young lover should not be a woman, call her Octavia. It would still make sense for her to dress up as a maid to deceive Ochs and, as a joke, to cross-dress as a young knight to present the rose to Sophie. Just a thought.