Premiere on 07. February 2025
Composer Richard Strauss. Libretto von Joseph Gregor unter Benutzung eines Entwurfs von Hugo von Hofmannsthal.
recommended for ages 16 and upHilarious mythology in three acts (1952)
In German language. With German and English surtitles. New Production.
Duration est. 0 hours
The premiere will be broadcasted live on BR-Klassik radio.
Danae must marry a wealthy man, to settle her father’s debts. All dream of gold here, and Danae more than all others. A powerful man takes an interest in her and sends another ahead. It would appear the right husband has been found. But, of course his wealth comes with a condition, which stands in the way of true happiness. Danae must, Danae can choose between wealth and love, between dreams and reality, between the promises of wealth and riches, and of love and all its happiness.
The “cheerful mythology” of Die Liebe der Danae reassembles various legends and characters of Greek antiquity, and recounts the story of a woman, who successfully asserts her love against the reason of state and capriciousness of the gods. What appears inconceivable in the scoring of similar baroque period material, which in Richard Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen leads to doom and destruction, is possible here.The god stands aside and frees the way for the happiness of two people. Framed by a squad of comic figures and music in which the gold always glitters, and which all scatter after here.
With full orchestra and gigantic sounds, Richard Strauss looks back in his late work to the motifs of his own operas and the history of music. He would not live to see the 1952 world premiere. The piece was last restaged at the Bayerische Staatsoper in 1988, and it will now be interpreted by the team surrounding the Strauss specialists, Claus Guth (director) and Sebastian Weigle (conductor).
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Premierenmotiv © Somnath Bhatt
