Richard Strauss’ and Hugo von Hofmannsthal’s Der Rosenkavalier has been absent from the Santa Fe Opera for far too long — 31 years to be precise. Its return this season is as good as anything performed here during the last couple of decades. To begin with, it’s a musically superior evening (and early morning), with conductor Karina Canellakis making a triumphant company debut.
Her reading was notable for its energy and sense of propulsion, while the more lyrical sections were beautifully shaped without bogging down or slipping into oversentimentality. The orchestra sounded terrific, its balance with the singers was very good, and the score’s many solos were well played. Director Bruno Ravella, in his company debut, and Gary McCann, his scenic and costume designer, updated the setting by 200 years or so, from circa 1740 to 1950s Vienna.
The shift was a perceptible plus, creating visual analogies that could resonate for contemporary attendees and providing for sleek, high-fashion costumes, especially for the women. Ravella’s work with cast paid off in the depths and subtleties of their changing relationships and emotional states, especially in the central trio of the 30-something Marschallin, her 17-year-old lover Octavian, and 15-year-old Sophie, with whom Octavian is destined to fall in love. The director and his cast developed a great deal of genuinely funny stage activity, which quite a few productions lack, and he created several welcome moments where the orche.
