Intermezzo, Op. 72, is a comic opera in two acts by Richard Strauss to his own German libretto, described as a (bourgeois comedy with symphonic interludes). It premiered at the Dresden Semperoper on 4 November 1924, with sets that reproduced Strauss' home in Garmisch. The first Vienna performance was in January 1927."Intermezzo". Time, 27 January 1927
Background The story depicts fictionally the personalities of Strauss himself (as "Robert Storch") and his wife Pauline (as "Christine")Griffel, Margaret Ross, Review of Del Mar 1969, Notes (2nd ser.), 27(4), pp. 726–726 (June 1971) and was based on real incidents in their lives. Pauline Strauss was not aware of the opera's subject before the first performance. After Lotte Lehmann had congratulated Pauline on this "marvelous present to you from your husband", Pauline's reply was reported as "I don't give a damn". The most celebrated excerpts from the opera are the orchestral interludes between scenes.
His usual librettist up to that time, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, refused to work on the opera and suggested that Strauss himself write the libretto, which he eventually did after having been refused by other writers. This is why the libretto is not in verse but in prose and even mimics the dialect used by the servants in the play, against the more polished German of the principals.
The opera's title is intended to refer to the intermezzi that used to be staged during the intermissions of serious operas during the 18th century, sort of mini-comic-operas, easy to follow with themes usually about marital confusions and other light comedies.
Performance history The UK premiere was at the Glyndebourne Opera on 15 June 1974 (sung in English), with subsequent productions in 1975 and 1983 (with a BBC Broadcast on 26 August 1983).Glyndebourne archive retrieved 27 April 2024.
The first professional staged US production was at the Santa Fe Opera in 1984, translated into English."Strauss' Intermezzo at Santa Fe Opera" by Bernard Holland, The New York Times, 6 August 1984
Roles RoleVoice typePremiere cast, 4 November 1924Conductor: Fritz BuschChristine StorchsopranoLotte LehmannRobert Storch, her husband, a conductorbaritoneJoseph CorreckAnna, their maidsopranoLiesel v. SchuchFranzl, their eight-year-old sonspokenFritz Sonntag Baron LummertenorTheo StrackThe notarybaritoneRobert BüsselHis wifesopranoElfriede HaberkornStroh, another conductortenorHanns LangeA commercial counselorbaritoneLudwig ErmoldA legal counsellorbaritoneAdolph SchoepflinA singerbassWilly BaderFanny, the Storch's cookspokenAnna BolzeMarie and Therese, maidsspokenErna FreseResi, a young girlsoprano
Synopsis Setting: Vienna and Grundlsee during a 1920s winter
The composer Storch is leaving for a conducting tour, and his wife Christine helps him pack, arguing and nagging along the way. Seeking relief from loneliness she goes tobogganing and collides with a skier, a young Baron who befriends her. They dance together at a ball and she arranges for him to lodge in her notary's house. The friendship sours when the Baron asks Christine for financial assistance. She opens a letter, supposedly for her husband, from a lady arranging an assignation. She immediately telegrams Storch demanding they part forever. In tears, she seeks solace in her son's bedroom, but he defends his father.
Storch is playing skat with friends in Vienna when the telegram arrives and is bewildered by the accusations. Stroh, a conductor friend, admits that he knows the lady and surmises that his and Storch's surnames must have been confused. Christine visits the notary to demand a divorce, but he is unwilling to pursue the matter. She sends the Baron to Vienna to gather evidence of infidelity. Packing to leave, she receives a telegram from her husband saying that Stroh will explain the misunderstanding. Even after Stroh's visit she is reluctant to accept the truth. Storch returns home, and an argument ensues. The Baron arrives with evidence that Stroh rather than Storch had known the lady and Christine dismisses him, assured that her husband is blameless. Storch forgives her anger and teases her about her dalliance with the Baron. Husband and wife declare a renewed love.
Instrumentation Strauss scored Intermezzo for the following orchestra:
Woodwinds: 2 flutes (flute 2 doubles piccolo), 2 oboes (oboe 2 doubles English Horn), 2 clarinets in B-flat (clarinet 2 doubles bass clarinet in A), 2 bassoons (2nd bassoon must play low A in act 2) Brass: 3 horns (in F, E, D, E-flat, and A), 2 trumpets (in C), 2 trombones Percussion: timpani, suspended cymbals, crash cymbals, snare drum, triangle, bass drum, pair of [sleigh] bells Keyboards: piano, harmonium Strings: harp, violins I (11), violins II (9), violas (5), violoncelli (5), contrabasses (3)
Recordings YearCast:Christine Storch,Robert Storch,Anna,Baron LummerConductor,opera house and orchestraLabel Recordings of Intermezzo on operadis-opera-discography.org.uk1954Hilde Zadek,Alfred Poell,Anny Felbermayer,Rudolf ChristRudolf MoraltVienna State Opera Orchestra, 30 March at the Theater an der WienOmega Opera Archive 5381963Hanny Steffek,Hermann Prey,Gertrud Freedman,Ferry GruberJoseph Keilberth,Bavarian State Opera Orchestra and ChorusVHS Video Cassette: Lyric Distribution (Legato)Cat: 1818;DVD: Legato Classics1980Lucia Popp,Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau,Gabriele Fuchs,Adolf DallapozzaWolfgang Sawallisch,Bavarian Radio Symphony OrchestraCD: EMI ClassicsCat: 7 49337-21983Felicity Lott,John Pringle,Elizabeth Gale,Ian Caley Gustav Kuhn,London Philharmonic OrchestraVHS / DVD?: Kultur]Cat: CVI 20242014Simone Schneider,,Martina Welschenbach,Martin Homrich,Brigitte Fassbaender (speaking roles)Ulf Schirmer,Münchner RundfunkorchesterCD: Classic Produktion Osnabrück,Cat: 7779012Strauss: Intermezzo, Audio CD2024Maria Bengtsson,Philipp Jekal,Anna Schoeck,Thomas BlondelleDonald Runnicles,Orchester der Deutschen Oper BerlinCD: Naxos,Cat: 8.660584-85
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