An Opera Re-Born

Extract

Intermezzo, Richard Strauss's autobiographical comedy of married life had not been seen in Vienna for nearly 25 years. Now it has returned to the Theater an der Wien, the Staatsoper's emergency quarters, whose intimacy, it may be said, was a positive advantage for the chamber-like character of the work. The musical demands made by the composer in his detailed preface were ideally satisfied by the subtle tonal colouring of the Philharmonic Orchestra under Rudolf Moralt. The solo ensemble did full justice to the bright, kaleidoscopic variations of light and shade created by the interplay of words and music, the constant change between speech, arioso and full throated singing.