Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier – Renée Fleming

   in Opera Now (Feb, 2018)
Renée Fleming and Elina Garanca bade farewell to their signature roles of the Marschallin and Octavian in Der Rosenkavalier with a final performance at the Met in May last year. Robert Carsen’s pre-First World War setting provides an apt and glamorous backdrop for the love, loss and mayhem looked down upon disapprovingly by ancestral portraits, a world soon to end in the onslaught of war. Carsen makes his point well – Faninal has made his money selling armaments and will presumably be the only person to survive 10 years later, even richer and more vulgar. The rest will crumble and fade. He draws outstanding performances from his experienced cast. Fleming defies …