- Daphne (opera)
-
Richard Strauss Operas- Guntram (1894)
- Feuersnot (1901)
- Salome (1905)
- Elektra (1909)
- Der Rosenkavalier (1911)
- Ariadne auf Naxos (1912/16)
- Die Frau ohne Schatten (1918)
- Intermezzo (1924)
- Die ägyptische Helena (1927)
- Arabella (1932)
- Die schweigsame Frau (1934)
- Friedenstag (1938)
- Daphne (1938)
- Die Liebe der Danae (1940)
- Capriccio (1942)
Daphne is an opera in one act by Richard Strauss, his 13th opera, subtitled "A Bucolic Tragedy in One Act". The German libretto was by Joseph Gregor. The opera is based loosely on a myth from Ovid's Metamorphoses, and also includes elements taken from The Bacchae by Euripides. The opera premiered at Dresden on October 15, 1938, originally intended as a double bill with Friedenstag, but as the scale of Daphne grew, that idea was abandoned.[1] The conductor of the first performance was Karl Böhm, to whom the opera was dedicated.
Contents
Roles
Role Voice type Dresden Premiere,
October 15, 1938
(Conductor: Karl Böhm)Peneios, a fisherman bass Sven Nilsson Gaea, his wife contralto Helene Jung Daphne, their daughter soprano Margarete Teschemacher Leukippos, a shepherd tenor Martin Kremer Apollo tenor Torsten Ralf Four shepherds baritone, tenor, basses Arno Schellenberg, Heinrich Tessmer, Hans Löbel, Erich Händel, Two maids sopranos Angela Kolniak, Marta Rohs Synopsis
The chaste girl Daphne sings a hymn of praise to nature. She loves the sunlight as trees and flowers do, but she has no interest in human romance. She cannot return the love of her childhood friend Leukippos, and she refuses to put on the ceremonial clothes for the coming festival of Dionysos, leaving Leukippos with the dress she has rejected.
Daphne's father Peneios tells his friends he is certain that the gods will soon return among men. He advises preparing a feast to welcome Apollo. Just then a mysterious herdsman appears. Peneios sends for Daphne to care for the visitor.
The strange herdsman tells Daphne that he has watched her from his chariot, and repeats to her phrases from the hymn to nature she sang earlier. He promises her that she need never be parted from the sun, and she accepts his embrace. But when he begins to speak of love she becomes fearful and runs out.
At the festival of Dionysos, Leukippos is among the women wearing Daphne's dress, and he invites her to dance. Believing him to be a woman she agrees, but the strange herdsman stops the dance with a thunderclap and says she has been deceived. Daphne answers that both Leukippos and the stranger are in disguise, and the stranger reveals himself as the sun-god Apollo. Daphne refuses both her suitors, and Apollo pierces Leukippos with an arrow.
Daphne mourns with the dying Leukippos. Apollo is filled with regret. He asks Zeus to give Daphne new life in the form of one of the trees she loves. Daphne is transformed, and she rejoices in her union with nature. This transformation scene, the (metamorphosis), is opulently silvery in the string section.
Recordings
Year Cast:
Daphne,
Leukippos,
Appolo,
Paneios,
GaeaConductor,
Opera House and OrchestraLabel[2] 1948 Rose Bampton,
Set Svanholm,
Anton Dermota,
Ludwig Weber,
Lydia KindermannErich Kleiber,
Teatro Colón (Buenos Aires) Orchestra and Chorus, liveAudio CD: Preiser Records
Cat: 903711950 Anneliese Kupper,
Hans Hopf,
Georg Hann,
Georg Hann,
Res FischerEugen Jochum,
Bavarian State Orchestra and chorusAudio CD: Preiser Records
Cat: 904871964 Hilde Gueden,
Fritz Wunderlich,
James King,
Paul Schoffler
Vera LittleKarl Böhm,
Vienna Symphony Orchestra and Vienna State Opera chorusAudio CD (with cuts): Deutsche Grammophon
Cat: 445 322-21982 Lucia Popp,
Peter Schreier,
Reiner Goldberg,
Kurt Moll,
Ortrun WenkelBernard Haitink,
Bavarian Radio Symphony OrchestraAudio CD (First uncut complete recording): EMI Classics
Cat: CDS 7 49309-2 [3]2004 Renée Fleming,
Michael Schade,
Johan Botha,
Kwangchul Youn,
Anna LarssonSemyon Bychkov,
West Deutscher Rundfunk (WDR) orchestra and men's chorus
Recording appears to be of a concert performance in the Kölner Philharmonie, 13 or 16 March)Audio CD: Decca
Cat: 475 69262005 June Anderson,
Robert Sacca,
Scott Mac Allister,
Daniel Lewis Williams,
Birgit RemmertStefan Anton Reck,
Teatro La Fenice orchestra and chorus
( Audio and video recordings made at performances in the Teatro La Fenice, June)Audio CD: Dynamic
Cat: 499/1
Video DVD: Dynamic
Cat.33499References
- Notes
- ^ Christopher J. Thomas, "Daphne. Richard Strauss". The Opera Quarterly, 2, 146-148 (1984).
- ^ Recordings of Daphne on operadis-opera-discography.org.uk
- ^ Kenneth Birkin, Review of Haitink recording of Richard Strauss: Daphne. Tempo (New Ser.), 150, pp. 50-51 (September 1984).
Categories:- Operas by Richard Strauss
- German-language operas
- Operas
- One-act operas
- 1938 operas
- Operas based on Greco-Roman mythology
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