One of the composer's most highly regarded operas, with a libretto by Hugo von Hoffmansthal that artfully intermingles backstage comedy, the lofty emotions of Greek mythology and the merry pranks of a troupe of commedia dell arte players. Strauss endowed these antic proceedings with a luminous score that combines music of great satiric wit with breathtaking flights of lyricism. Reprinted from the definitive full-score edition published by Adolph Furstner following the opera's 1916 premiere at the Vienna State Opera."

Richard Strauss remains one of the most controversial figures in the history of music. Though he is now accepted as one of the finest of all orchestral composers, his reputation remains dogged by charges of career opportunism, sensationalism, and Nazi collaboration. This book places Strauss's life in the context of German history, revealing the paradoxes that lay beneath his public persona, and discussing his work in the light of personal, artistic and literary influences.

Diese Komdie fr Musik ist das erste wirklich gemeinschaftlich von Hugo von Hofmannsthal und Richard Strauss verfasste Werk. Dabei ist die ins Wien um 1740 verlegte Handlung der Verwechslungskomdie trotz ihrer literarischen wie musikalischen Tradition in dramatischer wie auch musikalischer Umsetzung ein Werk des frhen 20. Jahrhunderts. Dem Text liegt die Fassung der Partitur von 1910 zu Grunde. sterreichische Wendungen werden erlutert.