About the work
Opera in three acts (a „cheerful mythology“) by Richard Strauss to a libretto by Joseph Gregor after a 1920 sketch by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. Composed 1938–1940, wartime events allowed the work only a „public dress rehearsal“ on 16 August 1944 in Salzburg; the actual premiere did not take place until 14 August 1952 at the Salzburg Festival under Clemens Krauss, three years after Strauss's death.
Plot
King Midas, granted by Jupiter the power to turn everything to gold in exchange for borrowing his form, courts Danae, daughter of the debt-ridden King Pollux, posing as the golden king – but Jupiter himself also desires her. When Danae realises she prefers the poor but truly loving Midas to the god and his gold, Jupiter yields to love.
Cultural significance
Because theatres across Germany closed after the 20 July 1944 attempt on Hitler's life, the 1944 „dress rehearsal“ remained Strauss's only encounter with the finished work; it is regarded as one of his last major stage works and remains less often performed than his earlier operas.