Arabella at the Opéra Bastille

The new production of Richard Strauss’s Arabella at the Opéra Bastille is plain-vanilla bland, and it doesn’t offer much in the way of sets and costumes to cover up the flaws in the silly Viennese musical-comedy scenario contrived by Strauss and his long-time librettist, Austrian poet Hugo von Hofmannsthal. But Strauss’s splendid score is endlessly captivating, and Renée Fleming once again proves herself one of the reigning Strauss sopranos of her generation in the title role.

Written in 1928-1929, Arabella was an attempt to recapture the huge success of the 1911 Strauss-Hofmannsthal collaboration, Der Rosenkavalier, but based on a story as flaky as strudel mit schlag. Count Waldner, having gambled away his fortune, hopes to marry his daughter Arabella to a wealthy man, and since he can’t afford a simultaneous debut for her sister Zdenka, the younger girl is forced to dress as a boy. It’s love at first sight for Arabella when young landowner Mandryka enters the picture, but the route to a happy ending is paved with plotholes.

At 50-something, Fleming is lithe and lovely enough to be completely convincing as a young debutante pursued by countless suitors but holding out for the handsome stranger of her dreams.  In top form here, her famously cream-coated voice can float Strauss’s melodic lines so beautifully that they might bring tears to the eyes. She’s well supported by soprano Julia Kleiter as Zdenka (alternating with soprano Genia Kühmeier) and the powerhouse baritone Michael Volle as Mandryka.

Arabella Opéra Bastille, in repertory through July 10, 2012. website