Ancient Greek myth is ingeniously interwoven with Commedia dell'arte, as the music of Richard Strauss comes to Longborough for the first time.
Musicians, singers and actors prepare for a serious opera, to be followed by a burlesque troupe. To avoid running late it is decided that the two entertainments be performed simultaneously, and the performers, tragic and comic alike, must tailor their efforts to their employer's requirements.
This absurd predicament is the setting for Strauss’s musical exploration of the bitter-sweet nature of love, culminating in a duet in which Hofmannsthal's magical idea of poetic transformation is perfectly allied to the sublimity of Strauss's music.
