Intermezzo

Lo spettacolo

In the new production of the Theater an der Wien, Kirill Petrenko — opera conductor of the year 2007‐ is the musical director and Christof Loy — one of the best opera directors in Europe — will direct Intermezzo by Richard Strauss.

An anecdote concerning a misdirected letter that allegedly caused his wife Pauline a fit of jealousy, and may even have made her consider divorce, was the inspiration for Richard Strauss%u2019 eighth opera Intermezzo, for which he also wrote the libretto at the behest of Hermann Bahr. Strauss said of this subliminal public portrayal of his own life: %u201CAs harmless and trivial as the events in this work are, the feelings they cause remain the most distressing emotional conflicts that can afflict the human heart.%u201D

The conductor Storch has to go to Vienna on business. At his home on the Grundlsee, an unexpected letter arrives from the capital that deeply distresses his wife Christine: %u201CMy darling,%u201D it runs, %u201Cplease send me two tickets for the opera again, and afterwards we%u2019ll meet in the bar as always. Love, Mitzi Meier.%u201D In a fit of anger she immediately hurries to her solicitor to file for divorce. She sends a telegram to her husband with the unequivocal message, %u201CWe are divorced forever%u201D. When Storch reads this, he leaves his game of cards filled with consternation and wanders around the Prater in a daze. But the fateful letter has been sent to the wrong address, and was intended for the conductor Stroh. Mitzi Meier has mixed the names up. All is well again with the Storch family.

With its mixture of conversational tone, arioso sections, spoken dialogues and symphonic interludes Intermezzo is not a completely serious portrayal of scenes of married life; instead, Strauss presents the emotional upheavals in a rapid succession of scenes interwoven with a large number of ironic, if not to say satirical, references to the Marschallin from the Rosenkavalier and to Ariadne auf Naxos.


Performed in German


Conductor Kirill Petrenko

Director Christof Loy

Set designs Henrik Ahr

Costume designs Judith Weihrauch

Lighting Stefan Bolliger

Co‐operation Choreography, Directoring Thomas Wilhelm

Dramaturgy Annika Haller

Robert Storch Bo Skovhus

Christine Soile Isokoski

Baron Lummer Oliver Ringelhahn

Anna Gabriela Bone

Kapellmeister Stroh Andreas Conrad

Kommerzienrat Steffen Rössler

Justizrat Klemens Sander

Kammersänger Siegfried Vogel

Notar Lauri Vasar

Notarin Ulla Pilz

Resi Anne‐Kathrin Frank

Franz Martin Mairinger


Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra