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Richard Strauss and His Heroines dir. by Thomas von Steinaecker (review)

In the film Richard Strauss and His Heroines, German filmmaker Thomas von Steinaecker presents Richard Strauss (1864–1949) as a composer shrouded in enigma and contradictions; a man with a secret. Steinaecker suggests that an examination of Strauss’s relationships with the women in his life and the operatic heroines he created, including Elektra, Salome, and the Marschallin, provides the key that unlocks the secret of the composer and his artistic inspiration. Not surprisingly, one of the film’s primary focuses is Strauss’s wife of over 55 years, Pauline de Ahna, an acerbic soprano who starred in his first opera, Guntram, as well as Alice Grab, his Jewish daughter-in-law and secretary. Biographical details and personal stories about Strauss and his family are set against a backdrop of Germany’s cultural history from the onset of the twentieth century to World War II. Highlights from Strauss’s operas and other works are interspersed in the narrative in an attempt to demonstrate connections among the changing status of women in Germany, Strauss’s personal life, and his compositions. Much of this information is conveyed in the form of interviews. Christoph Wagner-Trenkwitz, who acts as dramatic advisor at the Volksoper Vienna and has published extensively on Strauss, as well as noted scholar of German culture and literary criticism, Barbara Vinken, contribute significantly to the historical account. In the first half of the film, the rarely-performed Vier Lieder, Op. 27 is examined as a wedding gift to de Ahna and an emblem of the composer’s love for his new wife. In the first decade of their marriage, Strauss and de Ahna toured widely, performing Lieder programs. Through his wife, Strauss discovered the female voice and learned to compose for it. Salome and Elektra are offered as prime examples of exert her beautiful singing as a coloratura mezzo-soprano. The Dormouse in his baritone quality performs high level skills, not only maintaining a mellow and deep tone color but also showing a superb tone in falsetto. And Alice as a coloratura soprano sings emotionally to express her indignation as the third witness in Scene VII. She realizes that the situation she faces is all a chaotic dream. The brave girl is no longer afraid of the Queen and King of Hearts. Alice sings to them: “Except this court is a game, with no rules at all! . . . You’re nothing but a pack of cards.” As Alice finally takes off the masked head, which she had been wearing throughout the opera, her beautiful face is now revealed. The Finale of the opera starts quietly. When the orchestra plays bell-sounding music, Alice is coming out of her nightmarelike wonderland. She moves softly and holds the masked head in front of her chest while gently singing: “What garden is this? . . . My dreams have led me all to dirt?” Her soprano tone is quietly restrained but lyrically tender, making the song quite touching. Towards the end of the opera, Alice in the garden sows flowers. A splash of colorful lights appears on stage, symbolizing full blossom in the garden. The traditional Western novel is transformed into a contemporary opera with both Western and Eastern characteristics. Although its music is basically pantonal, several sections embellish the opera with diatonic modes. Vocal and orchestral pieces composed by Chin show her sophisticated skills, which fit the need of the twenty-first century. The structure of the libretto is designed in balance, shaping a symmetrically arched form to tie the plot into cohesion. This is exemplified in the scenes where Dream I starts the opera and Dream II as a Finale ends the opera. And Interlude I responds to Interlude II in that both show a similar image of contemplation. Finally, many innovations enrich this Western opera, including fantastic make-up masks and costumes, stage settings, and exotic elements spoken and sung by the characters.