Opera in two acts
In a castle outside Paris a group of artists meet to celebrate Countess Madeleine’s birthday. Two admirers in particular, the poet Olivier and the composer Flamand, compete for her attentions. The impresario La Roche challenges them to create an opera and they start discussing which is more important – music or words? An opera about opera. Richard Strauss’ final operatic work had its premiere performance at the Munich State Opera in 1942, in the throes of the raging world war. The libretto was written by the renowned conductor Clemens Krauss, who called it “a conversation piece for music”. But what ravishingly beautiful music – and words!
