First performance of Rosenkavalier [opera by Richard Strauss] in England.
Covent Garden. Began at 8.30 (20 minutes
late) and finished at midnight, with many cuts. Then 30 minutes’ wait, nearly,
for motor in procession of motors. The thing was certainly not understood by
stalls and grand circle. What its reception was in amphitheatre and gallery I
was too far to judge. First act received quite coldly. Ovation as usual at end
– and an explosive sort of shout when Thomas Beecham came to bow. The beauty
and symmetry of the book came out even more clearly than on reading it. An
entirely false idea of this opera so far in England. Not sensual, nor perverse,
nor depraved. It is simply the story of a young man providing a tragedy for an
ageing woman by ceasing to love her, and an ecstatic joy for a young woman by
beginning to love her. All the main theme is treated with gravity and beauty.
The horse-play, and the character of Ochs, and the 18th century
colour is incidental. It seemed to me .
. . to be a work of the first order.
Arnold Bennett's Journals - January 29th 1913
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