Richard Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier

摘要

The premiere of Der Rosenkavalier took place on the 26 January 1911, at the Royal Court Opera in Dresden. The success of the piece became an event in itself, perhaps the most glittering triumph in the history of opera. Special trains were laid on to ferry visitors from Berlin eager to attend extra performances. The work was immediately taken into the international repertory, and there it has remained. From the distance of over a century, it is hard not to listen without hearing in this new comedy about old manners a last gasp of old Europe before WW1 swept it away. With the success of Elektra ringing in their ears, librettist Hugo von Hofmannsthal wrote to the composer Richard Strauss, proposing a second collaborative work.