Wish I could have experienced Rickenbacher's conducting live -- perfectly lovely, relaxed orchestral performance of this magical music. Strauss's long lines and kaleidoscopic harmonies come through effortlessly. I listen again and again with pleasure and appreciation. Thank you.
Good catch (similar, but not completely literally quoted) - you can find the same motivic cells in "Ein Heldenleben" (amongst others).. maybe that was just "Strauss' thing".
Great music for a worthless plot; the former is better enjoyed the less anything is known about the latter. The score can stand on its own, unlike the libretto. Why Strauss continued to waste his high genius on the likes of von Hofmannsthal is a mystery filled with regret for far better things that could have been.
Well to be fair they had collaborated with great success many times. Not every work is going to be a masterpiece! This isn’t exactly Strausses most inspired score either compared to his greatest works! After intermezzo, the 1920s were not very fruitful for Strauss. In the 30s and even more on the 40s he got his mojo back!
In fairness, the ridiculous plot is very close to Euripides’ Helen. He also has a substitute-Helen that was smuggled into Egypt. “Plot,” as such, hardly ever matters in the hands of a genius. Granted, I’m not saying this opera in particular is a masterwork.
Der Rosenkavalier alone proves that Hofmannsthal was very well capable of writing a wonderful libretto. I think the ideal case would be the composer writing both music and text, but besides Wagner that is a rare sight to behold.
An absurd comment given the success of "Der Rosenkavalier" and "Die Frau ohne Schatten" and the intelligence of both the collaborators and the masterworks they produced. Yes; "Die Ägyptische Helena" is decidedly quirky but not "worthless".
Thank You for posting! One can NEVER have TOO much of the music of Richard Strauss! ALL of his operas are COMPLETELY overwhelming - when well staged!
Wish I could have experienced Rickenbacher's conducting live -- perfectly lovely, relaxed orchestral performance of this magical music. Strauss's long lines and kaleidoscopic harmonies come through effortlessly. I listen again and again with pleasure and appreciation. Thank you.
I know the plot is a bit weird but I can just enjoy the music by itself for its sumptuous beauty.
Quite simply, fabulous music.
The last three minutes are heavenly beautiful!!
Never knew he did one of these for this opera!
perfect fusion of leitmotif and melodie, poor menelas confused for the moment, glorious music even next to elektra, to my sense ... ...
Richard Strauss:Az egyiptomi Heléna-Szimfonikus töredék
Bambergi Szimfonikus Zenekar
Vezényel:Karl Anton Rickenbacher
Does anyone know why Strauss quotes "Asleep In the Deep" at 20:05?
Good catch (similar, but not completely literally quoted) - you can find the same motivic cells in "Ein Heldenleben" (amongst others).. maybe that was just "Strauss' thing".
Ce fragment est -il directement tiré de l’opéra ?
C'est une suite orchestrale tirée de l'opéra, tout comme la suite Rosenkavalier, par exemple.
Great music for a worthless plot; the former is better enjoyed the less anything is known about the latter. The score can stand on its own, unlike the libretto. Why Strauss continued to waste his high genius on the likes of von Hofmannsthal is a mystery filled with regret for far better things that could have been.
Well to be fair they had collaborated with great success many times. Not every work is going to be a masterpiece! This isn’t exactly Strausses most inspired score either compared to his greatest works! After intermezzo, the 1920s were not very fruitful for Strauss. In the 30s and even more on the 40s he got his mojo back!
In fairness, the ridiculous plot is very close to Euripides’ Helen. He also has a substitute-Helen that was smuggled into Egypt. “Plot,” as such, hardly ever matters in the hands of a genius. Granted, I’m not saying this opera in particular is a masterwork.
Der Rosenkavalier alone proves that Hofmannsthal was very well capable of writing a wonderful libretto. I think the ideal case would be the composer writing both music and text, but besides Wagner that is a rare sight to behold.
An absurd comment given the success of "Der Rosenkavalier" and "Die Frau ohne Schatten" and the intelligence of both the collaborators and the masterworks they produced. Yes; "Die Ägyptische Helena" is decidedly quirky but not "worthless".