By Shirley Apthorp [Financial Times, 7 April 2010]
There are good reasons for Daphne ‘s comparative obscurity. Of all Richard Strauss’s operas, it is arguably the hardest to stage. How do you show a woman turning into a tree? Add the dubious time and place (Dresden, 1938) of the world premiere, Joseph Gregor’s weak libretto, and the antiquated subject material, and you have plenty of reasons for avoiding Daphne .