CAPRICCIO (OPERA)

'''Capriccio''' is the final opera by German composer Richard Strauss. It was given its premiere performance at the Nationaltheater München on October 28, 1942, seven years before Strauss's death. The German libretto was written by Clemens Krauss and Strauss himself.
He subtitled it "A Conversation Piece for Music", and it is indeed "talky" and conversational, with minimal stage action. Its subject can be summarized as, "Which is more important: words or music?"
This question is dramatized in the story of a Countess torn between two suitors: Olivier, a poet, and Flamand, a composer. In her salon outside Paris, the two prepare for her birthday celebrations and vie for her affections by debating the merits of words versus music. Joining the lively debate are a theatre director, La Roche; an actress, Clairon; the Countess's brother; and a pair of Italian opera singers.
Words and music, of course, join together to create the unique art form of opera. ''Capriccio'' has a reputation as something of an insider's opera, an opera about opera for opera lovers. (In recent years, it has been described by reviewers as a "meta-opera").

Contents

Roles

External links

Roles

		Premiere, October 28, 1942 (Krauss)
The Countess	soprano	Viorica Ursuleac
Clairon, ''an actress''	contralto	Hildegarde Ranczak
Flamand, ''a musician''	tenor	Horst Taubmann
Olivier, ''a poet''	baritone	Hans Hotter
The Count, ''the Countess' brother	baritone	Walter Höfermeyer
La Roche, ''director of a theatre''	bass	Georg Hann
Monsieur Taupe	tenor	Karl Seydel
Italian Singers	soprano, tenor	Irma Beilke, ???
The Major-Domo	bass	Georg Wieter
Eight servants	four tenors, four basses
Three musicians	violin, cello, cembalo

External links

★ Synopsis

★ Libretto (German only)