Die ägyptische Helena
Music by Richard Strauss · libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal · premiered 1928 · at Semperoper
Die ägyptische Helena (The Egyptian Helen), Op. 75, is an opera in two acts by Richard Strauss to a German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. It premiered at the Dresden Semperoper on 6 June 1928. Strauss had written the title role with Maria Jeritza in mind but, creating quite a sensation at the time, the Dresden opera management refused to pay Jeritza's large fee and cast Elisabeth Rethberg instead as Helen of Troy. Jeritza eventually created the part in Vienna and New York City. As inspiration for the story, Hofmannsthal used sources from Euripides (Helen). Strauss made changes to the opera in 1933, five years after the premiere, working with the director Lothar Wallenstein and the conductor Clemens Krauss.
Text from the Wikipedia article "Die ägyptische Helena", licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
About the Composer
Richard Strauss is the composer of record for this opera.
Text from the Wikipedia article "Richard Strauss", licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Other Operas by Richard Strauss
- Arabella
- Daphne
- Feuersnot
- Elektra (1903)
- Der Rosenkavalier (1911)
- Ariadne auf Naxos (1912)
- Die Frau ohne Schatten (1914)
- Die Liebe der Danae (1920)