About the work
Dantons Tod is an opera in two parts by Gottfried von Einem, to a libretto by Boris Blacher and the composer after Georg Büchner's play of the same name. Its premiere on 6 August 1947 at the Salzburg Festival was Einem's first opera and made the 29-year-old composer internationally famous almost overnight.
Plot
In Paris in 1794, Georges Danton, disillusioned with the Revolution, has withdrawn from politics, while Robespierre, driven on by Saint-Just, prepares a new wave of terror. At Saint-Just's urging, Robespierre has Danton and his allies arrested; after a show trial they are sent to the guillotine, while Danton's wife Julie descends into madness.
Cultural significance
With its moderately modern, largely tonal idiom and its powerful choral tribunal scenes, the opera is regarded as a key work of post-war Austrian opera and established Einem's reputation as the leading opera composer of his generation.