Semperoper honors Richard Strauss with new production of "Intermezzo"

100 years old and alive and kicking: The Semperoper has honored its "house god" Richard Strauss with a new production of the opera "Intermezzo" and received much applause from the audience. The work had its world premiere in Dresden on November 4, 1924 and has now been revived for the anniversary. Members of the Strauss family also traveled to the premiere. The work has strong autobiographical traits and focuses on a marital conflict between the Strauss couple.

Director Axel Ranisch had the composer and his wife appear twice - in the theater within the theater. The plot: Richard Strauss attends the world premiere of "Intermezzo" with his wife Pauline in 1924; the couple can be seen in a film clip on a screen. Pauline becomes increasingly enraged when she sees the goings-on on the real stage and realizes that her husband has staged his own marriage as musical theater. Other characters from Strauss' oeuvre, including Elektra, Salome and Arabella, also appear in video clips during the opera's symphonic interludes.

Strauss premiered nine of his 15 operas in Dresden

Richard Strauss (1864-1949) had a close relationship with the Dresden Opera and the court orchestra of the time. Under the general music directors Ernst von Schuch, Fritz Busch and Karl Böhm, nine of his 15 operas were premiered here, including "Salome", "Elektra" and "Der Rosenkavalier". Strauss called Dresden a "Dorado for world premieres". The composer also dedicated his "Alpine Symphony" to the orchestra. To this day, the Staatskapelle Dresden enjoys an international reputation as the "Strauss orchestra".

The orchestra proved this once again at the premiere. Austrian conductor Patrick Hahn made his Semperoper debut and also performed as a pianist. Hahn accompanied the Strauss song "Cäcilie" at the beginning of the performance. Ranisch and his production team wanted to make it clear that Strauss' wife Pauline was also a well-known singer of her time. In "Intermezzo" 2024, Maria Bengtsson and Christoph Pohl interpreted the roles of the two spouses. There was also much applause for Ute Selbig in the role of the chambermaid Anna.