On Screen: Arabella (Met Opera)

Strauss’s elegant romance brings the glamour and enchantment of 19th-century Vienna to the Met stage in a sumptuous production by legendary director Otto Schenk that “is as beautiful as one could hope” (The New York Times). Compelling soprano Rachel Willis-Sørensen makes her role debut as the title heroine, a young noblewoman in search of love on her own terms. Soprano Louise Alder makes her Met debut as her sister, Zdenka, and bass-baritone Tomasz Konieczny is the dashing count who sweeps Arabella off her feet.

Arabella is set in Vienna around 1860. The historical moment that drives the plot is the situation of a fading landed gentry attempting to keep up appearances while somewhat adrift in the modern urban melting pot.

The score of Arabella is beautiful and charming, with a wealth of lyrical melody perfectly attuned to the demands of the story and characters. Strauss’s most exalted domains—his writing for the soprano voice and for the orchestra—are magnificently apparent throughout this score, with the title character’s introspective soliloquy in Act I being just one stunning example. He also calls upon the orchestra to create unforgettable effects, nowhere more notable than in the touching final scene, in which the listener is transported into a musical experience of forgiveness, wisdom, and the burgeoning of true love.