Joana Mallwitz and Lydia Steier delight with the new production of Rosenkavalier at the Zurich Opera House

Photo: Chris Gonz

Matthias Schulz's directorship at the Zurich Opera House began with the successful new production of Der Rosenkavalier under the musical direction of Joana Mallwitz and directed by Lydia Steier .

With Der Rosenkavalier , set in an imagined Rococo Vienna yet closely linked to the decadent fin de siècle, Strauss and Hofmannsthal created a profound social comedy. It is not without melancholy that the Marschallin lets her young lover Octavian depart when he falls head over heels in love with Sophie from the bourgeois Faninal family. As sumptuous as Strauss's score is, it is just as tender in moments of dream and melancholy. Director Lydia Steier stages Strauss's opera based on an aesthetic concept by the Austrian artist Gottfried Helnwein . Diana Damrau sings the Marschallin.

Performances: Oct 1, 5, 14, 17, 21, 26