Opera Review: It's Not Easy Bein' Green

The Cleveland Orchestra brings Daphne to Lincoln Center Festival.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Franz Welser-Möst (right) conducts Regíne Hangler and Andreas Schager (left) in a scene from Daphne.
Photo by Stephanie Berger © 2015 Lincoln Center Festival.

In bringing the Cleveland Orchestra to play Daphne at the Lincoln Center Festival, conductor Franz Welser-Möst has declared his intention to one day restore this potent and moving Richard Strauss opera to the repertory. On Wednesday night, Mr. Welser-Möst may well have succeeded in getting the opera back on the radar of New Yorkers who may know Rosenkavalier and Salome but have ignored not to delve into the considerable riches of the later Strauss catalogue. In this performance Daphne proved to be  an engrossing, enchanting 100-minute opera, a feast for the ears and an unheralded example of this composer's fertile late style.

Festival Preview: Red Bicycles, Tree-Women and Handmade Instruments

We look at the upcoming 2015 Lincoln Center Festival.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

He's ba-ack: Michael Keaton as Betelgeuse in Tim Burton's Beetlejuice.
The film's score is part of a six-day Danny Elfman retrospective at this year's Lincoln Center Festival.
Photo © 1988 Warner Brothers Entertainment/Geffen Films.

Since its inception in 1996, the Lincoln Center Festival has this mammoth venue's laboratory: its chance to experiment and offer new experiences in the appreciation of Western art music. The 2015 festival offers a compelling mix of German opera, Hollywood illusion and a long overdue re-assessment of a true American master, Harry Partch.

CD Review: Renee Fleming in Daphne

Daphne is one of many Strauss operas concerned with Greek mythology. This is the story of a young maiden who becomes the love-object of the god Apollo. When she spurns him, he strikes her mortal lover dead and has her turned into a tree, so that he may smile on her always. At 100 minutes, the one-act opera is a lesser work in the Strauss catalogue, but it shines through with a burnished glow that looks forward to the composer's final period and the Four Last Songs.


Renee Fleming gives Daphne the right mix of girlish innocence and womanly warmth, singing with full, rounded notes that thrill the listener when she soars into her highest register. She is well-flanked by strong male leads who are at home in the high tenor and baritone parts.

South African singer Johan Botha brings his fine heldentenor to the role of Apollo. More subtle is the fine Korean baritone Kwangchul Youn as Leukippos, who manages to navigate this incredibly high part and act with his voice as well. But the finest performance here is Swedish contralto Anna Larsson in the key role of Gaea--her duet with Fleming is a highlight of the recording.

Semyon Bychkov is an interesting choice to conduct this opera. From the opening passages where woodwinds and bassoons paint the idyllic, pastoral landscape to the glorious final pages, Bychkov does a good job of conveying the Straussian tonal picture. This score is filled with some of Strauss's prettiest music, textured sheets of strings and wind that evoke rustling, shimmering leaves, held up by sturdy tree trunks of brass and percussion. The finale, where Daphne transforms, is a textbook in complex orchestration--this is Strauss at his most transcendant, played at the highest level.

The era of record companies allowing singers and conductors to record and perform obscure repertory may be at an end, killed off by the bloating of classical music catalogues and the rise of the megalithic "complete edition" box set. However, this fine recording from 2005 is worth listening to, for fans of Ms. Fleming, for Strauss-philes and for those who remember when the artists and labels had the economic freedom to offer up a gorgeous work like this for the discerning ear.