The LAO's compelling new production of Strauss' "Der Rosenkavalier" bears the intriguing vision of Hollywood legend, actor/director Maximilian Schell, and the marvellous designs of Austrian-born, Los Angeles-based visual artist Gottfried Helnwein.
Helnwein's brilliant costumes are also character driven. Sophie's duenna Marianne (soprano Susan Foster) is garbed like a Shakespearean nurse, Sophie is an idealized Helen of Troy, while the schemers Valzacchi and Annina (tenor Anthony Laciura and mezzo-soprano Margaret Thompson) could be straight out of Mozart's "Don Giovanni'. In short a production that clearly needs to be visited again and again to fully reveal its symbolic and metaphoric riches.
Perhaps the greatest glory of this "Der Rosenkavalier" is its visual unpredictability. ...

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FAVORITE MUSICAL EXPERIENCE:
”Der Rosenkavalier Dorthy Chandler 2005- Such a beautiful opera. Amazing Melodies. Incredible Art direction by Gottfried Helnwein. Very few performances make you weep, inspire you to create. My head was spinning. ...

The von Faninal Palace set for Act II was an absolutely astounding use of space. Almost all of the characters entered from the sides of the stage, at least two stories high. They descended to ground level by use of a two huge curved staircases which come together at the top. All around on the second floor is a chest high balustrade and the entire structure is supported by a series of columns which go through the second floor and continue upwards from there. The structure was in white, but lighting designer Alan Burrett bathed the entire scene in a “daylight” type gel. Because of the elaborateness of the set for Act II (and the time required to “build” it and then break it down again), the sets for Acts I and III were the same, merely a big box, dressed differently. It is a brilliant concept. ...

Much of the credit in this year’s new production of Der Rosenkavalier goes to Gottfried Helnwein, scenery and costume designer. Steeped in Austrian visual art, his motto declares: “Art must excite, amaze or shock, startle, or inspire.” Indeed, he does in this work. Each act is tailored to a symbolic color scheme: Act I, blue-expectation/morning, Act II, gold and yellow-neuvo riche, and Act III, red-love, hate, revolution. Over 200 costumes are required in this performance since many of the principals appearing in each act require three (or perhaps more, such a Octavian) different colored outfits and make-up. The different shades of primary colors (palette of the Rococo Era) came to life in these rather stark sets, yet this is exactly the key to Helnwein’s artistic success: reducing visual means, and enhancing a stronger message. The intrinsic value of colors becomes more apparent, and yields a deeper impact on one’s subconscious. ...

Born in Vienna in 1948, Gottfried Helnwein has developed a very powerful and idiosyncratic visual vocabulary reflected in his masterful use of multiple media (painting, drawing, photography, performance, and stage design). Helnwein addresses a broad range of social and political issues, resulting in challenging and provocative artworks. Although at times very disturbing, these works are consistently moving, and seek spiritual beauty often approaching the transcendental. ...

Curada por Karlheinz Essl y Andreas Hoffer, en colaboración con Luis-Martín Lozano, director del MAM, la exposición está integrada por pinturas que van desde la abstracción hasta el realismo; pasando por el accionismo vienés, la nueva pintura de los años ochenta, el informalismo y la nueva objetividad
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Parte de la importante colección Essl llega al Museo de Arte Moderno para exhibir piezas de 18 artistas austriacos y 12 artistas internacionales, en reciprocidad por la muestra Modernismo mexicano presentada en el museo privado Essl Kunstsammlung en Viena.
El accionismo vienés (Günter Brus y Hermann Nitsch); Arnulf Rainer y Antoni Tápies; La pintura vive (Georg Baselitz, Markus Lüpertz, Siegfried Anzinger, Hubert Scheibl, Herbert Brandl, Martin Kippenberger, Franz West), y Aspectos de la figura (Alex Katz, Katrin Plavcak, Muntean/Rosenblum, Jim Dine, Gottfried Helnwein, Maria Lassnig, Elke Krystufek ...

The thing you should know about this "Rosenkavalier" is that it is terrific. Richard Strauss' opera sounds great and looks sensational. It is excellently sung, sumptuously conducted by Kent Nagano and, thanks to Gottfried Helnwein, wondrously strange.
Helnwein — the Austrian artist (painter, photographer, performance artist, filmmaker) who has a studio in downtown L.A. — is known for everything from Marilyn Manson videos to Holocaust installations. He is responsible for the sets, costumes and that ad (which, by the way, looks like an image from a recent staging of a Schumann oratorio that Helnwein designed in Düsseldorf).
Helnwein's vision of "Rosenkavalier" is monochromatic and a riot of color. It is oddly traditional yet seriously odd. It is updated but couldn't be more 18th century. And none of those opposites contradicts. ...

Sorry - thats wrong. The film shown was Robert Wiene's "Der Rosenkavalier"(1925) created in collaboration with Hugo von Hofmannsthal and Richard Strauss who wrote the musik for the film (Op. 59) The set and costumes were created by Alfred Roller who was in charge of the sets and costumes for all the Strauss opera-premières in Vienna.
The rushing troop penetrating through the stone arch are soldiers of the Marshall (- the Marshallin's husband) - But it's true that Robert Wiene also created "Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari"(1920) for which he became famous.
(the website editor). ...