Comedy set to music by Richard Strauss
After the tragedies Elektra and Salome, Richard Strauss contemplated a light-hearted opera in the spirit of Mozart's Figaro. "A comic opera with dramatic comedy in the characters and situations, a colorful and almost pantomimic transparent plot, an opportunity for lyricism, jokes, and humor," Hugo von Hofmannsthal wrote to him, drawing inspiration not only from the spirit of Beaumarchais in France: a comedy by Molière and an extremely spicy best-selling novel from the late 18th century provided the Romanist with the decisive inspiration for his libretto.
The story, which revolves around the eponymous rose ritual, begins after a night of love in the Field Marshal's bedchamber and ends with all kinds of insights and valuable realizations in the shady suburban milieu – and philosophizes about questions of transience. Premiered in January 1911 at a time of profound social upheaval, this comedy, steeped in music and tinged with melancholy, is still relevant today: a timeless work about time, which becomes space in Andreas Homoki's now legendary production ...
