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Premiered in 1911, Strauss's most-loved and enduring opera is set in 18th-century Vienna where the Field Marshall's wife, the Marschallin, finds solace from her unhappy marriage in love affairs with teenage boys. She persuades her current lover Octavian that he should replace her with someone younger. 16-year-old Sophie Faninal is engaged to the elderly, lecherous and impoverished Baron Ochs. The engagement suits both Sophie's father, Faninal, who sees Sophie as a ticket to a better social sphere, and Ochs who drools with anticipation, not just at the huge dowry Sophie will bring. Octavian dresses up as a woman to seduce Ochs and thus thwart the Baron's impending nuptials. At the end it’s mission accomplished as Octavian and Sophie become lovers and the Marschallin declares the opera's events as "a masquerade, as we in Vienna practice – nothing more." The whole is wrapped up in an irresistible combination of Strauss's sumptuous orchestration, wonderful melodies and his ravishing way with the female voice.

But beneath the surface froth, it's the serious and enduring themes which have made Der Rosenkavalier a classic, including ageing and loneliness, the relentless passage of time, hypocrisy, desire and love.

Tom Service introduces this new production recorded last month at Garsington Opera, which used Eberhard Kloke's 2019, widely praised transcription for middle-sized orchestra. Presented in conversation with Observer critic Fiona Maddocks and Swedish soprano Miah Persson who, famous in the part of Sophie, now takes the role of the Marschallin for the first time.

Richard Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier

Act 1

7.20 pm
Interval
Tom Service in conversation with Miah Persson and Fiona Maddocks

7.30 pm
Act 2

9.00 pm
Interval
Tom Service continues his conversation with Miah Persson and Fiona Maddocks

9.10 pm
Act 3

Marschallin ..... Miah Persson (soprano)
Octavian ..... Hanna Hipp (mezzo-soprano)
Sophie von Faninal ..... Madison Leonard (soprano)
Baron Ochs ..... Derrick Ballard (bass)
Faninal ..... Richard Burkhard (baritone)
Valzacchi ..... Colin Judson (tenor)
Annina ..... Kitty Whately (mezzo-soprano)
Italian Tenor ..... Oliver Johnston (tenor)
Marschallin's Major Domo ..... Richard Pinkstone (tenor)
Faninal's Major Domo ..... Glen Cunningham (tenor)
Marianne ..... Rebecca von Lipinski (soprano)
Innkeeper ..... Alexander Aldren (tenor)
Police Commissar ..... Julian Close (bass)
Notary ..... Kieran Rayner (baritone)

Garsington Opera Chorus
Philharmonia Orchestra
Jordan de Souza (conductor)

Photo credit: Johan Persson for Garsington Opera