Global Society Richard Strauss's 'Der Rosenkavalier' - reviewed by ROBERT ANDERSON 'The Viennese chorus and orchestra know this opera inside out ...'

Directors seem the least opportunist inhabitants of our merry global society. Even in 2004, the date of this Salzburg production by Robert Carsen, the gates of Guantanamo Bay lay wide open for a production of Der Rosenkavalier. Admittedly it might have necessitated more cross-dressing than that envisaged by Hoffmannsthal and Strauss, but there was the golden opportunity for a presidential Ochs, and there is no reason why Cubans should not adopt the waltz as national dance. There would be innumerable Moslems to serve little Mohamed's morning chocolate, and Strauss's score is great enough to survive any interpretation. What do we get instead?

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