No matter what anyone tells you about Strauss' opulent orchestrations being de classe in the late '20s or the impossible tessitura of his vocal writing or the heroic triviality of his characters or the mythic banality of his themes, don't believe them. The real reason Strauss' 1928 opera Die Ägyptische Helena is so rarely performed and recorded is because Hugo von Hofmannsthal's plot stinks. Hofmannsthal takes gorgeous Helen of Troy and turns her into a hausfrau who, after having spent a decade sporting with Paris of Troy ...
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No matter what anyone tells you about Strauss' opulent orchestrations being de classe in the late '20s or the impossible tessitura of his vocal writing or the heroic triviality of his characters or the mythic banality of his themes, don't believe them. The real reason Strauss' 1928 opera Die Ägyptische Helena is so rarely performed and recorded is because Hugo von Hofmannsthal's plot stinks. Hofmannsthal takes gorgeous Helen of Troy and turns her into a hausfrau who, after having spent a decade sporting with Paris of Troy, wants her husband back and is willing to drug him to do it. Die Ägyptische Helena starts as a domestic comedy, becomes a bedroom farce, then a domestic tragedy, and ends as a hymn to conjugal bliss. And that's what Strauss had to set to music. And he did and the results are as extravagantly beautiful as anything he wrote after Der Rosenkavalier and surely one of his greatest operas from the '20s. Nevertheless, the work is rarely recorded and this 2002 recording led by Leon...
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All our items come in the original case with artwork, though manuals and slipcovers are not always guaranteed to be included as these items are donated goods. We typically resurface discs that are visibly scratched prior to shipping, but we do not test disc(s). Digital codes may not be included and have not been tested to be redeemable and/or active. Thank you for shopping with Goodwill Colorado! Orders shipped Monday through Friday. Safe and Secure Bubble Mailer! Your purchase helps put people to work and learn life skills to reach their full potential. Thank you!
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