The closing concert at the 2024 Edinburgh International Festival is an event to anticipate with the greatest pleasure. It was to have been conducted by Sir Andrew Davis, who led a whole series of Strauss operas when he worked at Glyndebourne early in his career. It seems that this late masterpiece was the first opera that he ever conducted. Sadly, the news of his death on 20 April prevents us from hearing his mature view of the piece.
The cast is led by wonderful Swedish soprano Malin Byström, last heard here as Salome, a rather different Strauss character.
Danish baritone Bo Skovhus plays her brother. A few years ago Dame Sarah Connolly appeared with Scottish Opera as Octavian in Der Rosenkavaler.
Peter Rose sang Ochs in an earlier run of Sir David McVicar's staging, before launching his international career.
The orchestra is of particular interest this time. The Philharmonia was established some seventy years ago by the impresario Walter Legge, with the purpose of making great recordings of operas and operettas as well as orchestral and choral music. Their quality is still recognised today. They included Tristan und Isolde (under Furtwängler) and Der Rosenkavalier (under Karajan). Capriccio followed these in 1957, conducted by Wolfgang Sawallisch, with a miraculous cast including Elisabeth Schwarzkopf (Countess), Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (Count), Nicolai Gedda (Flamand), Eberhard Wächter (Olivier), Christa Ludwig (Clairon) and Hans Hotter (La Roche). For many years after no other recording companies bothered to compete. Has the orchestra ever played this music since?
During its two day residency the Philharmonia also plays the night before for Verdi's Messa da Requiem, which it recorded in 1963 and played memorably at the 1969 Festival, both under the great Carlo Maria Giulini.
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