Capriccio
February 25, March 2, 4, and 6, 2010, at 8 pm
Matinée February 27 at 3 pm
Broadcast on CBC Radio Two, June 19, 2010, at 1 pm
POV's Production
In 1942, the Nazi war machine was operating at full power, grinding its way over Europe. In October, a gorgeous lyric bauble about a flirtatious 18th-century countess putting on a private opera was first performed in Munich.
Bloomberg News
Critics are divided on whether Capriccio is frivolous escapism or a subtle defence of art against those who would destroy it.
Strauss set the action far away from the war – in a luxurious chateau near Paris at the time when Gluck began his reform of opera, about 1775.
Marie Antoinette had just become Queen of France, and the French Revolution was yet to come. With its frequent references to such 18th century figures as Gluck, Rameau, and Voltaire, the opera seems firmly lodged in 1775.
Yet, given the backdrop against which it was written and Strauss's frequent skirmishes with the Nazi authorities, there is behind the banter a frisson of impending tragedy.
So why not keep this production in the elegant 18th century family home of the count and countess, but move it to the time in which it was written? Director Robert McQueen and Designer Christina Poddubiuk have done exactly that.
The set is an elegant, traditionally beautiful room, with furniture and costumes from a more modern time: the 1930s.
Robert McQueen is intrigued with the concept of setting this opera in the 1930s, creating a production whose witty narrative is set on the eve of chaos. He explains:
Without anyone's acknowledgement that they are directly in the path of imminent destruction, this group of artists meet to discuss and engage in the activity of creation . . . an act of profound bravery and, perhaps, denial. This is a house whose appearance is testament to generations of devotion to, and love of art . . . a house of such outstanding artistic wealth that it will shortly be a prime target in Hitler's campaign-of-acquisition during the war. This is a house that has the look and feeling of luxury and leisure in a world about to explode.
It brings to mind a cinematic work like II Giardino dei Finzi-Contini or a Chekhov play in which "nothing much happens except that one world comes to an end and another begins". It is a setting that I feel fits perfectly with Timothy's description of the work as "unflaggingly beautiful with that late Strauss evanescence, which is so heartbreaking".
What would Strauss think of setting his opera in the time in which he wrote it? The old man probably wouldn't mind. Remember that Strauss himself plays merrily with anachronism throughout Capriccio.
The opera dips into many eras: a 16th century sonnet and its 20th century translation, music from the 18th century alongside echoes of Verdi, Wagner, and Strauss himself . Amid such eclectic borrowing, it seems natural to add another contemporary voice to the fascinating mix that Strauss created as he ranged over half a millennium of art and human folly.
Maureen Woodall
Explore Capriccio
- Overview & Cast
- Synopsis
- The Music
- Conversation with Timothy Vernon
- POV's Production
- Newsletter
- English Libretto
- Study Guide
- Classroom Activity Guide
Production Sponsors
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