Strauss, “Und du wirst mein Gebieter sein” from Arabella

Back in college, my conducting professor gave me a small conducting role in the University’s production of Arabella. It was offstage and had something to do with keeping the ensemble together. It lasted about 15 seconds and, as I recall, I did not embarrass myself or cause the production to fall apart.

I have not seen a production of Arabella since, I presume simply because it hasn’t played anywhere I happened to be. I don’t pass up many opportunities to hear Strauss. His works are lush and complex. As a horn player, you have to like Strauss. Maybe only sopranos like him better.

Richard Strauss (1864-1949) might be considered the last of the Viennese Romantics. His career extended through both World Wars. He turned to opera around the beginning of the 20th century after creating his most famous tone poems, including Don Juan (1888), Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks (1895), Also Sprach Zarathustra (1896), Don Quixote (1897), Ein Heldenleben (1898), Death and Transfiguration (1899).

Arabella premiered in 1933. The plot is rather unremarkable, with some of the typical twists you expect to find in an opera comedy. But the music is quite serious and includes some of Strauss’s most lyrical writing.

In the short scene from Act II presented here in concert, Arabella has had a lucky day. With several suitors and a father desperate to marry her into wealth, she has discovered that the man she secretly admired has (coindidentally) inherited a fortune. Things will get a bit rocky as people pretend to be who and what they aren’t, but all misunderstandings are eventually resolved.

If you don’t know Renée Fleming and Thomas Hampson, you would do well to explore their recordings. Fleming has been at the top of the opera world for some time. Hampson has turned much of his attention to promoting American song repertoire.

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