Name: Strauss: Capriccio
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[Behle] is simply perfect both vocally and dramatically...Nylund’s opulent soprano as a handsome Countess Madeleine is best when she can billow, and the final scene rises to something remarkable...Thielemann... — BBC Music Magazine, February 2023 More…

Release Date: 9th Dec 2022
Catalogue No: 109459
Label: Arthaus Musik

International Classical Music Awards

2023

Nominated - Video Opera
Gramophone Magazine

February 2023

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Strauss, R: Capriccio

Camilla Nylund (Countess), Christoph Pohl (Count), Daniel Behle (Flamand), Nikolay Borchev (Olivier), Georg Zeppenfeld (La Roche), Christa Mayer (Clairon), Wolfgang Ablinger-Sperrhacke (Monsieur Taupe), Beomjin Kim (Italian Singer), Tuuli Takala (Italian Singer), Torben Jürgens (Major-Domo), Sächsischen Staatskapelle Dresden, Jens-Daniel Herzog
Christian Thielemann

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Subtitled »A Conversation Piece with Music«, Richard Strauss’s »Capriccio«, which premiered in Munich in 1942, was the climax of the composer’s stage work, a farewell to opera and a confi rmation of his (ambivalent) insistence on the autonomy of art at a time of total war. In a rococo chateau near Paris, the poet Olivier, the composer Flamand and the Countess Madeleine not only negotiate their erotic relationship to one another, but also the question – basic to opera history – of what is more important: the music or the words? Prima la musica, poi le parole? Richard Strauss’s response is to weave a fine musical tapestry, from the wonderful string sextet at the beginning of the opera, through the sparkling parlando, the seemingly weightless conversational tone, fugue, sonnet and octet, to the poetic moonlight piece and the sentimentalironic finale. At the work’s conclusion, the undecided Countess interrogates her reflection in the mirror: »Can you help me fi nd an ending to their opera? Is there one that isn’t trivial?« “The Sächsische Staatskapelle, with its Strauss experience, prepares the sound for this new production under its chief conductor Christian Thielemann. There is a rich sound with power and sophistication and plenty of soloistic subtleties and brightening arcs are to be discovered in this music by the old master.” (Neue Musikzeitung)

Reviews

February 2023

[Behle] is simply perfect both vocally and dramatically...Nylund’s opulent soprano as a handsome Countess Madeleine is best when she can billow, and the final scene rises to something remarkable...Thielemann predicatably makes everything transparent, playful, gorgeous; musically it ’s a triumph. But maybe just listen with a libretto to hand.

February 2023

All in all it’s a fine achievement, and probably now the leading recommendation for a modern film of this opera.

Strauss: Capriccio

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