From Heaven to Teatro Real, came down the angel: Strauss' Arabella for the first time in Madrid.

The collaboration between Richard Strauss and Hugo von Hoffmansthal has been one of the most fruitful ones in operatic history. Until the death of the latter in 1929, both artists bequeathed to the world masterpieces such as Elektra, Der Rosenkavalier, Ariadne auf Naxos or Die Frau ohne Schatten. As time transcurred, and music evolved into serialism, dodecaphonism, expressionism, Strauss's genius and style continued to look towards a more traditional musical language, with great symphonic works and lyrical romantic comedies, starred by Viennese aristocrats. Such is the case of Arabella, which was the last opera  in which Strauss and Hoffmansthal worked. By the time it was premiered in Dresden in 1933, the playwright had already died and Strauss had found a new librettist, the famous writer Stefan Zweig, whose collaboration with the composer since wouldn't be much longer, because in that same year the criminal Nazi Germany began its terrible walk in history.

I remember that, several times in Spanish opera forums, during his tenure at the Teatro Real, the late Gérard Mortier was suggested, in a blaming sense, for not bringing some non-seen-before classic operas, as an alternative to not repeating  ABC repertoire or staging "difficult" (for some) contemporary works created after 1950, such as Arabella, as one of those that had to be scheduled. Well, the time has come. This delicious musical comedy finally arrives in Madrid for the first time, 90 years after its premiere, and it does in a production from the Frankfurt Opera and the Barcelona Gran Teatre del Liceu, directed by Christof Loy, a regular guest in Madrid.

Arabella is a romantic comedy set in the 1860s Imperial Vienna: a ruined aristocratic family, looking for a rich husband for their beautiful (and desired) daughter, but she wishes to marry for love. The lucky one is the millionaire landowner Mandryka, not without trouble during the plot. On the other hand, in a parallel story, we have Zdenka, Arabella's sister, who is forced to dress as a boy, because her family can't  affort her maintenance and is put into a second place. In addition, she is in love with a soldier, Matteo, who is in love with Arabella.

Without giving up his minimalistic style, and as he did in his 2019 staging of Capriccio, resorting to elegance, Loy strips this work of any romanticism and delves not only into the psychology of the characters, but also into the decadent environment that surrounds Arabella's family and Viennese society, as well as Zdenka's frustration at hiding her identity and not having the man she loves. The result is a montage of great beauty, but not exempt from darkness and void, which gives this work a touch of introspection, and also statism in many scenes. The stage is a huge white stage box, which when the play begins, opens to show an empty, dilapidated hotel room where this run-down family lives. The aesthetics are more reminiscent of the Post-1945 Austria, during the challenging post-war (an era which certainly does fit with the necessity to marry their daughter to survive) than of the time of Kaiser Franz Joseph I. 

This is a staging which moves horizontally from one side to another, shows us the big hotel lobby, Arabella's dressing room, and even the hotel bathrooms, all behind that white box, which is closed in moments of greatest intimacy or big conflicts. In fact, in some occasions when the white box opens, leave behind only a black background, like in the end of the first act, with Arabella in the "white" area and in the background Zdenka in the "black", or in the end, when Mandryka and Arabella head into darkness, something that with the tender and radiant happiness with which they celebrate their imminent marriage.

David Afkham, whose name is a guarantee in this repertoire, after an unforgettable Salomé last summer with the Spanish National Orchestra, leads the Teatro Real Orchestra, in a conducting which transmits the richness, the delicious range orchestral colors of this work, whose music is reminiscent of the delicious atmosphere of Der Rosenkavalier. The tempi tend to be somewhat slow, but at the same time revealing the orchestral richness, the passages that recreating waltzes or in the passionate orchestral prelude of the third act, the orchestra had moments of brightness. In that prelude, the metal sounded spectacularly. Afkham transmits the charm, majestic richness of a music that never bores and always delights.

Sara Jakubiak in the main role, raised the level during her performance, reaching her dramatic height from the second act. Even with a sometimes nasal timbre, she delighted with her tender interpretation of "Aber der richtige" in act 1, until her voice reached its plenty, with an appreciable dramatic timbre, in acts 2 and 3.

Josef Wagner was a Mandryka with a beautiful and strong voice, as well as an impressing stage presence.

Sarah Defrise was an excellent Zdenka, with a beautiful dark tone, and also an excellent actress, conveying the loneliness of her character.

Matthew Newlin in the role of Matteo, has a beautiful tenor voice with excellent high notes, especially in the duet with Arabella in the third act.

One of the big surprises in the night was Martin Winkler as Count Waldner, Arabella's father. This somewhat guttural-sounding bass baritone sang Alberich a year ago, and now in a completely different role, that gutturality allows him him to draw a fitting grotesque, amusing aristocrat, as the desperate matchmaker father of his own daughter. And a compelling, comical, well sung performance.

Anne Sofie von Otter as Adelaide was at a good singing and acting level. Dean Power as Elemer was an excellent tenor. Elena Sancho-Pereg as Fiakermilli was able to handle the brief but difficult role, with her youthful and beautiful tone.

The rest of the cast and chorus performed at the same good level.

Undoubtedly, opera lovers in Madrid have an must date with this title, rarely seen outside of Germany and Austria as it requires great operatic, orchestral sources. So, the Teatro Real scores a point by programming this delicious opera.

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