The topic of Danae first came to Strauss’s attention
in 1920 when Hofmannsthal suggested it as a possibility for
collaboration, but it was put aside because Strauss was busy
composing Intermezzo and because he was up to his eyes
with running the Vienna Opera. He then returned to it in the
late 1930s and finished it in 1940, stipulating that it should
not be performed until after the end of the war. Clemens Krauss
persuaded him to change his mind and allow it to appear in the
1944 Salzburg Festival as a celebration of the composer’s 80th
birthday, but the July Bomb Plot intervened and that year’s
festival was cancelled. In fact the opera lay unperformed until
1952, save a public dress rehearsal as part of the 1944 festival
preparations.
Today it is one of Strauss’s least performed works, and it’s
undoubtedly a problematic piece. It’s tempting to speculate
what Strauss and Hofmannsthal might have made of it in comparison
with the dramatically wobbly and slightly derivative piece which
Strauss created with Joseph Gregor, his librettist. The story
concerns Danae, the lover of Jupiter who descended to her in
a shower of gold. She begins the opera obsessed with riches
and longs to marry King Midas for his wealth, but as the opera
progresses she realises the value of love over money and ends
happily ensconced with Midas in blissful poverty. Conversely
the opera charts the story of Jupiter who has clearly lost his
touch with the ladies and is struggling to get over his rejection
by Danae. Comic relief is provided by the appearance of Mercury
and four of Jupiter’s former lovers – Semele, Alcmene, Europa
and Leda – who mock him for his lack of amorous prowess. Strauss
doesn’t seem to have made up his mind, however, as to whether
the opera is a light entertainment or a serious treatise on
the nature of love: he calls it a “Joyful Mythology in Three
Acts”, not altogether helpfully. The serious and comic elements
sit together a tad uncomfortably and the long final duet between
Danae and Jupiter doesn’t quite stand up under the great weight
that Strauss piles upon it. There’s also an argument that Strauss
was rather too much in debt to other examples here: the weary
Jupiter, past his best, bears more than a passing resemblance
to Wotan, especially in Act 3 of Walküre, and Mercury
is almost a carbon copy of Wagner’s Loge. Structurally speaking
the work has problems too. I’ve mentioned the length of the
final duet. The end of Act 1 is problematic too: Danae faints
in Jupiter’s arms and the music just seems to collapse anticlimactically,
as if seeking a base that it never quite finds. There are also
plenty of places where Strauss seems to be nodding to his earlier
achievements, most notably the love music of Rosenkavalier.
However, that’s not to say that Danae isn’t a worthy
piece; quite the opposite, in fact. There is a huge amount to
enjoy here. After all, it was written at the threshold of Strauss’s
wonderful final years. Metamorphosen, Capriccio
and the Four Last Songs were just around the corner,
and traces of all three can be heard in some aspect of the work,
most notably in the ravishing orchestration. The surging strings
and throbbing winds that accompany Midas and Danae’s love music
in Act 3 are just sensational and the final bars, where Danae
looks forward ecstatically to Midas’ return, provide a thrilling
full-stop. It is clear, furthermore, that Strauss had lost none
of his skills as an orchestrator in preparing this work. Often
the orchestra is called upon to produce ear-ravishing effects,
such as the arrival of Jupiter in Act 1. The quicksilver instrumentation
of the shower of gold in the same act harks back to the presentation
of the rose in Rosenkavalier. The neo-classical string
introduction to Act 2 is utterly charming, and the music for
Jupiter’s four former lovers, who nearly always sing as a full
quartet, allows Strauss to indulge his love of the female voice
to its fullest extent.
All of this would be enough to justify exploring the work, and
it’s exhilarating that the Deutsche Oper have paid the work
the immense compliment of giving it a serious and worthy staging.
In one of the additional bonus Behind-the-Scenes films
the theatre’s Dramatic Adviser, when asked what the opera is
about, remarks “you could say that the vultures are circling
the Aegean”. The opening scene concerns a Greek ruler in massive
debt who is having his belonging repossessed. Does any of this
sound familiar?! It’s a neat touch that most of King Pollux’s
artefacts which are being removed by the bailiffs are famous
statues or paintings of Jupiter, often in the act of seducing
a lover. The sets for the production aren’t especially spectacular
and are often very plain, especially the bridal chamber of Act
2, but Kirsten Harms shows a great ability to direct singers
as actors and to create convincing interaction out of Strauss’s
sometimes unwieldy drama. The one constant image of the production,
also visible on the DVD cover, is of an upside-down grand piano
which hangs suspended over the action almost from start to finish.
The reasons for this weren’t entirely clear to me, but it’s
an arresting image nonetheless.
The singers treat this work very seriously and give it their
all. Manuela Uhl’s soprano is dramatic and slightly brittle,
missing some of the voluptuous nature of Danae’s music, but
she holds nothing back and her identification with the role
is very convincing. Even more so is the heroic tenor of Matthias
Klink whose Midas achieves the feat of seeming vulnerable while
remaining heroic. Mark Delavan is an outstanding Jupiter, rich
and commanding yet with an air of faded glory and managing successfully
to suggest that this god’s best days are behind him. Thomas
Blondelle as Mercury and Burkhard Ulrich as Pollux both make
the most of their smallish tenor roles and the quartet of mistresses
sounds ravishing. The playing of the large orchestra is sensational
from start to finish. I can’t imagine this score being given
a better treatment, and it helps immeasurably that they are
captured in surround sound so that the glories of Strauss’s
orchestration come at you from all angles. Andrew Litton directs
this score with the assurance of someone who has taken the time
to get to know it well. Orchestra and singers respond to him
with confidence and the result is outstanding.
Like their DVD of Rienzi,
the Deutsche Oper has done a fantastic job of resurrecting a
neglected work by a great composer and doing so triumphantly.
Staging and musical values work on almost every front and they
make this set well worth exploring. The work itself may not
be perfect, but this DVD is the best argument for it that I
could imagine. Fans of Strauss need not hesitate.
Simon Thompson
Danae – Manuela Uhl (soprano)
101 580 [155:00 + 22:00 (bonus)]