maturity...

i thought that richard strauss was a sellout after abandoning music like elektra and salome for going back to very lyrical and romantic opera with der rosenkavelier. my friend, jimmy, said that i would come to appreciate it later. i wouldn't agree with him. he also said something else about it. "it's the old queen's opera.

how true. how true. i saw it for the first time this past year. i did appreciate it very much. the lush music, the phenomenal orchestration and the message in the libretto are remarkable. i saw/heard in it something that was only fleeting in listening to it before this. it suddenly had a meaning both in music and words that i couldn't see when i was younger.

if you're not familiar with the libretto, it is about the marschallin who is realizing that she has gotten older and dalliances with younger men are not as exciting as they once were. she matures. it isn't sad; it's more bittersweet. a realization that life isn't passing you by. you don't have to fight it. you have to be part of it.

as far as the old queen comment jimmy made? he was right. the only thing was that he was 5 months younger than me! and as my friend drew used to say, you can only be a queen if your mother is dead. until then, you're just another princess...!

i now fit into both categories. i love it.

this is a video with renee fleming as the marschallin, frederika von stade as octavian and kathleen battle as sophie. fleming is well noted for her portrayal. a classic soprano who is well loved for playing the marschallin is elizabeth schwartzkopf. enjoy...