The Egyptian Helena
Work data | |
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Title: | The Egyptian Helena |
Max Frey : Original title unknown, |
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Original language: | German |
Music: | Richard Strauss |
Libretto : | Hugo von Hofmannsthal |
Literary source: | Helen of Euripides |
Premiere: | June 6, 1928 |
Place of premiere: | Dresden State Opera |
Playing time: | approx. 2 ¼ hours |
Place and time of the action: | After the end of the Trojan War, on the island of Aithra and in a palm grove in front of the Atlas |
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The Egyptian Helena is an opera in two acts by Richard Strauss . The libretto is by Hugo von Hofmannsthal based on Helena des Euripides . The premiere of the first version took place in Dresden in 1928 , that of the new version at the Salzburg Festival in 1933.
action
The sorceress Aithra is waiting for her lover, the sea god Poseidon. But he moved them. She is interested in following a passing ship on which a man is about to stab a woman. When the omniscient clam declares that it is Menelas and Helena on their way back from Troy, Aithra unleashes a storm, the ship capsizes, Menelas carries Helena ashore. Aithra's elven spirits lure Menelas away and make him believe that he has murdered Paris and Helena. He drinks Aithra's forgetting potion and is convinced that Helena in Troy was only a phantom and that she was his beloved wife during the war in Egypt. The two reconciled spouses are brought to the Atlas with Aithra's magic cloak. But there too, Helena's beauty causes confusion. Altair, the prince of the mountains, and his son fall for Helena. When Menelas kills the son while hunting, Menelas is captured by Altair. With Poseidon's help, Aithra frees them. But Helena now insists on living truthfully with her husband in the future. The arrival of their daughter Hermione facilitates the couple's final reconciliation. This somewhat frizzy, fairytale-like plot is about the question of whether you can lead a happy life in forgetting and lying.
music
Richard Strauss tried a German-Hellenic style here, partly lively, partly carried by glamorous highlights. But the unity that characterizes many other Strauss operas has failed. Strauss himself said that unfortunately his music did not cause any problems.
Recordings
- Prinzregententheater, Munich 1956 - Joseph Keilberth
1st act (MP3; 32.0 MB)
2nd act (MP3; 33.6 MB)
Helena: Leonie Rysanek , Menelas: Bernd Aldenhoff , Aithra: Annelies Kupper , Altair: Hermann Uhde , Da -ud: Richard Holm , The All-Knowing Shell: Ira Malaniuk
- Salzburg Festival 2003 - Fabio Luisi
1st act (MP3; 109 MB)
2nd act (MP3; 122 MB)
Helena: Deborah Voigt , Menelas: Albert Bonnema , Aithra: Elena Moșuc , Altair: Falk Struckmann , Da-ud: Kresimir Spicer , The all-knowing shell: Annette Jahns , Sächsische Staatskapelle
Discography
- Decca: Gwyneth Jones , Barbara Hendricks , Betty Lane, Birgit Finnila, Curtis Rayam
Detroit Symphony Orchestra ; Antal Doráti - ORFEO: Leonie Rysanek , Annelies Kupper , Bernd Aldenhoff , Hermann Uhde , Richard Holm
Choir and Orchestra of the Bavarian State Opera ; Josef Keilberth (live) - RCA Red Seal: Gwyneth Jones , Peter Schreier , Peter Glossop, Mimi Coertse , Margaret Sjostedt, Margarita Lilova , Ruthilde Boesch, Jess Thomas
Choir and Orchestra of the Vienna State Opera ; Josef Krips (live) - Telarc: Deborah Voigt , Celena Shafer, Teresa Buchholz, Christopher Robertson, Carl Tanner, BJ Fredricks, Tamara Mesic, Jill Grove, Elizabeth Batton, Sharla Nafziger, Eric Cutler, Kathlene Ritch
American Symphony Orchestra; Leon Botstein (live) - Naxos: Vitalija Blinstrubyte, Stephen O'Mara, Yelda Kodalli, Johannes von Duisburg, Regina Mauel, Ulfried Haselsteiner, Giulia Mattana, Helen Field, Paola Pellicciari, Brunella Bellome, Stefania Donzelli, Julia Oesch, Anna Maria Nobili
Cagliari Theater Chorus Cagliari Theater Orchestra , Gérard Korsten
Web links
- The Egyptian Helena, Op.75 : Sheet music and audio files in the International Music Score Library Project
- Plot and libretto of Die ägyptische Helena in German on Opera-Guide target page due to URL change currently not available
- Discography of Die ägyptische Helena at Operadis