April 19, 2019 at 7:30pm
NEC’s Jordan Hall


DIE ÄGYPTISCHE HELENA (THE EGYPTIAN HELEN)
By Richard Strauss
Libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal
BOSTON PREMIERE
Presented in concert, Performed in German with English supertitles

In Die ägyptische Helena, librettist Hugo von Hofmannsthal asks “What lay between that dreadful night and the complete reconciliation that followed? What can have helped rebuild this marriage as a true companionship?” Richard Strauss’s two-act opera is both an intimate and emotional story about Helen and her husband Menelas. Ten years after Helen left her husband to be with Paris, this opera imagines life after her return home. Or was it a phantom who went to Troy, leaving the beautiful Helen sleeping in Sparta all along? With goddesses, sorceresses, and elves to help spin the tale, will Menelas find forgiveness in his heart for his wife? Come experience this lush and dramatic work, a rare offering by one of opera’s greatest creative teams. 

“Given the extraordinary score and performance this past Friday, this cried out to be heard in what was perhaps the high point in concert productions this season.”

–South Shore Critic

Cast and Creative

Kirsten Chambers

Kirsten Chambers
HELENA

Clay Hilley

Clay Hilley
MENELAS

Katrina Galka

Katrina Galka
AITHRA

Joyce Castle

Joyce Castle
THE OMNISCIENT SEA SHELL

Ryne Cherry

Ryne Cherry
ALTAIR

Sara Duchovnay

Sara Duchovnay
FIRST SERVANT

Erica Brookhyser

Erica Brookhyser
SECOND SERVANT

Won Whi Choi

Won Whi Choi
DA-UD

Leah Kazuko

Leah Kazuko
HERMIONE

Gil Rose
CONDUCTOR

Media

Videos and photos by Kathy Wittman / Ball Square Films.