In yet another operatic updating to 'the time of composition', he moves the action from the 1740s to Vienna in 1911.

Robert Carsen's new production of Der Rosenkavalier is a great vehicle for Fleming which transfers – with, on paper, a stronger cast – to the Met next spring. Even the manner of her curtain call was perfection: despite the flower throw (a rarity at Covent Garden these days) there was no grandstanding, just a simple curtsey, applause for the orchestra, accepting her bouquet then joining the line-up so as not to distract focus from Alice Coote about to take her call as Octavian. She is incredibly responsive to text and in the final scene looks a million dollars in glittering black. Silky elisions between notes – one of her familiar traits – sound as sexy as ever and her feathery G on “die silberne Ros'n” at the end of Act I was exquisite.

Fleming's soprano may now be tinged with paler gold, but it retains much of its lustre. Likewise, Renée Fleming has decided the time is right to bow out gracefully from the operatic stage, choosing her signature role to bid the fondest of farewells to London.Īrguably, her departure comes too soon. Ultimately, the Marschallin bestows her blessing on Octavian and Sophie and leaves the youngsters to it. The trick is knowing when to bow out gracefully. At night she stops all the clocks, yet accepts time is not to be feared. Aware her teenage lover will inevitably leave her for a younger woman, the Marschallin muses that time trickles like sand through an hourglass, flowing ceaselessly.

Der rosenkavalier royal opera house