What is Der Rosenkavalier?
[[File:Robert Sterl Schuch dirigiert Rosenkavalier.jpg|thumb|[[Robert Sterl]]: ''Ernst Edler von Schuch conducting ''Der Rosenkavalier'' '' (1912)]] '''''Der Rosenkavalier''''' (in English: '''''The Knight of the Rose''''') is a [[opera buffa|comic opera]] by [[Richard Strauss]]. The words ([[libretto]]) were especially written for the opera by the [[Germany|German]] [[poet]] [[Hugo von Hofmannsthal]]. It was first performed in [[Dresden]] on 26 January [[1911]] and was an immediate success. It continues to be a very popular opera in [[opera house]]s all over the world and has been performed more often than any other [[German language]] [[20th century]] opera. The story is supposed to be happening in [[Vienna]] in the time of the [[Empress Maria Theresa]] (mid to late 18th century). The music and the words deliberately show the elegant life of [[aristocratic]] [[society]] of that time. For example: the title of the opera is about the silver [[rose]] which traditionally was sent by a [[bridegroom]] to his [[bride]] and was brought by a [[knight]] (the Knight of the Rose). ==The story of the opera== ===Act 1=== Act I takes place in the Marschallin’s bedroom. The Marschallin is an [[aristocratic]] lady aged 32. She has a lover, a young boy aged 17 called Octavian. When the opera starts, we first hear an [[orchestra]]l prologue. The music suggests that the Marschallin and Octavian are making love. Then the curtain opens and we see the two together. They hear a noise and the Marschallin thinks her husband is coming, so Octavian hides. It is not her husband, but her cousin Baron Ochs. Ochs is a very rude man with bad [[manner]]s. He marches in to the Marschallin’s room although the [[servant]]s had asked him to wait. Octavian manages to change his clothes and appears dressed as a [[maid]] called Mariandel. Ochs thinks “she” is pretty and wants “her” to meet him. Then he tells the Marschallin what he has come for: he wants a young knight to deliver the silver rose to his bride Sophie. He also ne