Munich National Opera – „Der Rosenkavalier“, 5 February 2017
„It’s Anne Schwanewilms who works this magic with her outstanding incarnation. From the beginning, it’s not the German soprano we see on stage but the Marschallin herself, just as Strauss and Hoffmannsthal may have imagined her. It’s more than a performance, it’s an incarnation. It hardly possible to put into words such a strong phenomenon, every syllable seemed to be dictated by the librettist, every inflexion administrated by the composer himself. There was not one gesture, which sense did not became completely accessible, not one expression which did not unfold Bichette’s heart. Her painful insight that time is passing by so quickly, her truthful love for Oktavian and her resignition to set him free – one does not know what to remember most of this portait which is very close to perfection.
If we add her queenlike posture, crowned with flaming red hair, we have tears in our eyes when Anne Schwanewilms enters the stage in the last act, more Marschallin than ever. In the midst of all vocal perfection two moments stand out: At the end of act one, the almost surreal pianissimo on the word „Ros’n“, when her timbre, clear as spring water, seems to float over the orchestra; and in the third act, when her last phrase „Hab mir’s gelobt“ raises with poignant Portamenti melting my heart.“
Nicolas Grienenberger, www.classiquenews.com, 7 February 2017