New landmark's number of premieres reaches operatic heights

As the third opera to make its Asian premiere at the newly opened Shanghai Grand Opera House, Richard Strauss' Der Rosenkavalier, presented by Berlin's Staatsoper Unter den Linden, wrapped up its three-show run from Nov 8 to 12 at the venue's 2,000-seat Harmony Hall.

The German production stood as the centerpiece in the company's largest-ever China engagement, bringing more than 300 performers and staff to Shanghai for a landmark cultural exchange.

The other half of the engagement featured pianist Rudolf Buchbinder, who played and conducted Beethoven's complete piano concerto cycle with the Staatskapelle Berlin in the SGOH's Soar Theatre from Nov 7 to 9.

Der Rosenkavalier, composed by Richard Strauss in 1911, is "one of the most difficult pieces in the entire operatic repertoire", conductor Christian Thielemann said at a meeting with local media at the SGOH on Nov 6. He described the score as a set of independent voices that form a single whole, akin to chamber music.

This production marks director Andre Heller's first full-length opera staging and resets the action to a charity gala on Feb 9, 1917, premiering in Berlin in 2020. Visual artist Xenia Hausner returned to stage design after a 28-year hiatus, creating the three-act settings: an Orientalist bedroom, a Vienna Secession mansion, and a Romantic dining room decorated with palms, exotic carpets and tents.

Thanks to Harmony Hall's advanced six-square, 3,500-square-meter backstage, the Der Rosenkavalier set was assembled while the Mariinsky Theater's Aida was still running.

Female voices dominate the opera. Mezzo-soprano Samantha Hankey portrays the young man Octavian in male attire. The New York Times praised her Metropolitan Opera portrayal for its "tireless energy and dramatic skill".

"Der Rosenkavalier is a piece that grows with you," she says. "I think it's something you can connect to at every stage of your life, and you find parts of these characters that speak to you at different points."

Finnish soprano Camilla Nylund has sung the lead role of the Marschallin for 23 years. At this stage of her life, she says, "It's wonderful to sing this role," adding that she loves "every second of this piece" and hopes audiences will share the deep feelings the music and text convey.

Lothar Strauss, concertmaster of the Berlin orchestra, called it "a three-dimensional symphony" of emotions and colors, in contrast to Wagnerian leitmotifs.

At the Der Rosenkavalier premiere, general manager Zhang Xiaoding announced that the SGOH will partner with Shanghai Chenshan Botanical Garden to create a rose garden named Art and Love.

Rose varieties including Tchaikovsky, Swan Lake and Allegory are already blooming outside the opera house's 13-meter glass wall in Mirror Hall. Tosca and Aida will follow over the next two springs, she says, until roses surround the new landmark.

Zhang also said in an earlier interview that the opera house is the final piece in Shanghai's theater ecosystem, balancing performing-arts resources across the Huangpu River's two banks.

Since tickets for the opening season went on sale, buyers have come from 25 countries and regions, she says, adding that the house will also host open rehearsals, master classes, and educational events to build interest and bring in new audiences.