FIRST NIGHT

Opera review: Der Rosenkavalier, Glyndebourne

The show is good on the callousness of a world in which women are sold to the highest-bidding husband, but there’s a dearth of passion and poignancy
Sophie, played by Elizabeth Sutphen, and Octavian, played by Kate Lindsey, in Der Rosenkavalier at Glyndebourne
Sophie, played by Elizabeth Sutphen, and Octavian, played by Kate Lindsey, in Der Rosenkavalier at Glyndebourne
ROBERT WORKMAN

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★★★☆☆
Time’s a funny thing, says the Marschallin in Strauss and Hofmannstahl’s comedy. She’s talking about how ageing seems to catch up on you; stop for breath and suddenly you’re over the hill (while, in her case, still only in her thirties). But everyone is clock-watching in this opera; no night is too long, hums the lecherous Baron Ochs, who needn’t worry about ageing, in the most irresistible tune of the night, while the young lovers Octavian and Sophie pronounce that they are together “for eternity” in their twinkly final duet. The mores of the Viennese depicted here tell us that eternity might actually be rather short.

The good news about Glyndebourne’s Rosenkavalier is that time almost flies by. Wallowing is banned; Robin Ticciati, returning