Die schweigsame Frau

In the early 1930s, for Richard Strauss — approaching 70 — it was an auspicious moment when Stefan Zweig, a renowned author known for his artful, profound novels and plays, proposed writing a new libretto. In a mutually inspiring collaboration, they created a truly “comic opera” based on a play by Ben Jonson from the Shakespeare period filled not only with striking characters, tempo, and wit, but profound reflection as well. “The opera is a perfe...