Der Rosenkavalier Controversy

When the noted and thoughtful critic of the Washington Post, Anne Midgette, wrote a piece criticizing British critics for dismissing Tara Erraught’s Octavian in Strauss’ Der Rosenkavalier because she was overweight, she was dead to rights. Ms. Erraught is maybe slightly heavier than ideal, but opera is not the movies, not now and I hope not ever. I attended this Rosenkavalier in Glyndebourne on June 21, and I feel compelled to point out what I see as the problem in Ms. Erraught’s Octavian, a problem which Ms. Midgette could not possibly have known as she has not seen the production.

Richard Jones, the director, conceived what I think were very peculiar personalities for both the Octavian and the Marschallin in this Rosenkavalier. Though Kate Royal’s Marschallin does not concern us here, it is important to know that at least in Act I she was voracious in her sexuality, wild with passion for Octavian and at the same time flirting as much as she could with Mahomet, her servant boy, who in this production is not the usual little boy but a grown man in either his late teenage or his twenties.

Ms. Erraught, the Octavian, under discussion had the most unattractive costume for the role that I have ever seen in more than fifty years of performances of this opera. Her wig was also abysmal. Her weight is not anywhere near out of control; she is certainly not by any stretch of the imagination obese, but she was made to look far more unattractive than she might be. I can go back to Rise Stevens’ Octavian, my first, through all sorts of body shapes from the remarkable Octavians of Christa Ludwig and Sena Jurinac to that of recent interpreters Angelica Kirchschlager and Daniele Sindram, the last two having ideal shapes for the role. No one complained or even thought of complaining about Ms. Ludwig, whose body was certainly that of a woman. And I don’t think that they would have complained about Ms. Erraught except for the way she was directed.

In this Rosenkavalier her sexuality was clearly ambiguous. Mr. Jones directed her to be more feminine than any Octavian in my experience. Her movements were not that of a teenage boy; there seemed to be an attempt—because he is a thoughtful and careful director—deliberately to confuse. Her hand movements, her body movements, her reactions were unlike any Octavian I have ever seen. And she was clearly not supposed to be pretty (or handsome if you will). This directorial decision in my opinion caused many to focus on her being slightly overweight.

What was important is that she sang well and fulfilled, I am sure, exactly what the director asked her to do. It’s a terrible pity that she is now held up as a poster girl for out-of-shape female singers. That I don’t think what he asked her to do or be has anything to do with the character is irrelevant. But it’s not fair to criticize Ms. Erraught for following direction

The controversy has escalated in a peculiar way. In Germany there have been several articles that the complaints over Ms. Erraught’s weight is a kind of operatic fascism: everyone must look good and be of one type or they are not acceptable. I certainly don’t subscribe to that idea, and I don’t think it is the problem here. It seems to me that far too many are writing about something that they have not seen themselves. I stick with what I did think:  I didn’t like the way that she was directed; I don’t think complaints about her weight are even appropriate. When she appears in New York and Munich, it will be very clear that her weight is not a problem.