Salzburg Festival

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The opera quick check by Larissa Schütz

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Markus Tschepp)

Whether you're on the trolleybus on the way to the performance, having a cigarette in front of the Salzburg Festival Hall or queuing in the toilet - with the opera quick check, you'll be perfectly prepared for the premiere in just two minutes. To start the series: Capriccio by Richard Strauss.

What's it all about? At first glance, two men fight for the heart of a woman. At second glance, it's about nothing less than the battle of the arts: Which is more important, the word or the music? The composer doesn't give us the answer at the end, but it does provide plenty of material for conversation over drinks after the opera.

Plot: Countess Madeleine is a clever and beautiful woman who loves art and the men who create it. Such men are the poet Olivier and the composer Flamand, who have their eye on the countess and are invited to her salon. In order to win her heart, they each want to impress her with their own art form. Olivier writes a sonnet in Madeleine's honor, which Flamant sets to music. The countess is asked to choose the winner, but is unable to make up her mind and instead reflects on the deep connection between literature and music. A discussion with her brother, the staff and other guests does not help her decide, nor does the urging of her admirers. In the end, Madeleine sits alone in her boudoir and ponders the end of the story - hers and that of the opera.

Show-off knowledge for the interval: in Strauss' last opera, as in most of his works, the focus is on an extremely strong female figure for his time. As progressive as his image of women was at the time, the father of a family was considered very conservative in his private life. Incidentally, the original idea for the opera came from one of the most famous residents of Salzburg's Kapuzinerberg: Stefan Zweig.