FELICITY LOTT (CHRISTINE IN INTERMEZZO)

SOPRANO FELICITY LOTT ANSWERS QUESTIONS ABOUT THE ROLE OF CHRISTINE IN RICHARD STRAUSS’ INTERMEZZO


Q. You are very much associated with some key roles in Richard Strauss’ operas - The Marschallin (Der Rosenkavalier), Countess Madeleine ( Capriccio), the title role in Arabella, as well as Christine in Intermezzo. Is Christine one of your favourite Strauss roles?

A. Christine is certainly one of my favourite roles, by any composer! She is such a character, constantly changing and full of contradictions; as an acting role I think Christine is unique.

Q. In Intermezzo Richard Strauss uses real incidents from his marriage with Pauline, on whom the role of Christine is based. As it is such as personal opera, does that make it harder to sing?

A. I don’t think it makes it harder to sing. The Strauss’ marriage is much documented so one obviously takes that into consideration but we didn’t try to recreate the actual characters. It is the hardest role I have ever had to learn or sing….see the next question!

Q. The recitative flows so well into the singing. Was it hard constantly moving between speech and singing, and maintaining the conversational element that Strauss wanted to achieve?

A. It was really hard to learn: it is brilliantly composed, so that all the conversational style of the solo line fits perfectly with the orchestra, and then she starts to speak but has to finish in time to be ready to start the next bit of singing. I thought I would go mad. Also the orchestra never stops, and when Christine isn’t onstage singing, complaining, flirting or whatever, she’s in the wings having clothes pulled off and fastened on ready to start the next, totally different type of scene. It is a real challenge, not only for the singer but also for the dressers and scene-changers!

Q. Andrew Porter’s brilliant translation of Richard Strauss’ own libretto has been widely praised, but what is it actually like to sing Strauss’ music in English? Does it change your performance in any way?

A. It was marvellous to do the opera in English. Strauss himself wanted this opera particularly to be sung in the language of the country in which it was performed. It is all conversation, until the last scene which is more lyrical, but if no-one knows what is going on it can be a little puzzling! I was so glad to have learnt the opera in English before I went to do performances in German in Munich. Andrew Porter’s translation was wonderfully singable and captured the spirit of Strauss’ libretto perfectly.

Q. Why do you think that Intermezzo is so rarely performed, when composers like Schoenberg thought it one of his greatest operas?

A. I think it is really difficult to perform. And of course it doesn’t deal with any great themes…no-one dies! It just deals with love and marriage, misunderstandings and every day events – real life, in fact. I love it! The orchestral interludes between the scenes are marvellously illustrative and the relationship between Strauss/Storch and Pauline/Christine is beautifully drawn, as is that between Christine and her long-suffering maid Anna. I suppose it isn’t a big crowd-pleasing opera but it has enormous charm and warmth.

Q. Christine is very temperamental and jealous in the opera. Do you like her as a character?

A. I did like her very much when I played her. She’s impossible but very vulnerable in a way, and she adored her husband.

Q. Is it possible to say how Strauss felt about her, and thus Pauline, from singing the role?

A. I think he loved her very much. They fought a lot and everyone told him how impossible she was and sympathised with him, but as he says in the opera, ‘I would rather have someone who is scratchy on the outside but warm and loving inside.’ They were a devoted couple. When he died, she just faded away.

Q. Was research about Pauline Strauss herself part of your preparation?

A. Yes, and I met the Strauss family in Munich when I sang the opera there. The producer in Munich was Kurt Wilhelm who knew Strauss and wrote several books about him. It is very interesting to research the character but ultimately one has to bring something of one’s self rather than trying to imitate the character.

Q. Do you feel optimistic at the end of the opera that the emotional drama is over and Robert and Christine can live happily ever after?

A. Yes, just as Richard and Pauline did. He writes such a great love-song to himself, sung by Christine at the end. I think he was quite sure of her love.

Q. Do you have any special memories of the performances of Intermezzo at Glyndebourne?

A. Apart from the nervous breakdown inherent in learning the part, and driving my family mad by turning into this impossible character instead of my usual sweet self, I remember it with huge affection. John Cox’s production was brilliant and such fun. I remember trying to pack the lamp-shades, the scenes with Anna and Lizzie Gale’s mutinous face, trying to fall off the sledge into the right place- I was never any good at practical things. I had never played a part like this before- well, there isn’t one- so it was quite liberating because she’s such a real person, rather than a Countess in a crinoline! Gustav Kuhn was great to work with and didn’t get cross when I couldn’t add up the household accounts in time to come in with the next line of singing. I think I shall have nightmares tonight, re-living it all! I wouldn’t have missed this experience for anything.


MS/Felicity Lott 19.12.08