This ninth opera in the Richard Strauss catalogue is famed as the only opera, ever, with a singing seashell. There is little else to recommend it.
Fortunately Bard College’s famed SummerScape tackles such rare pieces, allowing us to understand that such a piece does not speak to us, that it comes from another time, another mindset, another planet.
At its 1928 premiere in Dresden Richard Strauss had a succès d’estime, because the piece was composed by the already celebrated composer, and was obviously of fine vintage. There are indeed the Richard Strauss harmonic mannerisms, the unmistakable resolutions, the unique colors that describe the by-then well established Strauss topos — the dysfunctional family.
Much the same sort of success can be awarded to this Bard SummerScape production.
Die ägyptische Helena was Strauss’ fifth collaboration with librettist Hugo von Hofmannsthal (Elektra, Rosenkavalier, Ariadne, Die Frau ohne Schatten come before, the posthumous libretto for Arabella comes after). The Egyptian Helen mines once again the Neo-classicism that was to become a pillar of German fascism.
Von Hofmannsthal and Strauss remake the Euripides tragedy Helen wherein Helen, the most beautiful woman in the world, does not actually run away with Paris, instead it is a duplicate Helen that runs off. This situation becomes utterly chaotic in the Von Hofmannsthal Richard Strauss version that insists, finally, on creating a conclusion that celebrates family and fertility — yet another pillar of the coming German fascism.
To make a confusing story short — a seashell reveals to a sorceress that Helen’s un-forgiving husband Menelaus is about to kill Helen. The sorceress selflessly sets out to reconcile Menelaus to Helen. After a couple of hours of vintage Strauss sounds during which various potions are imbibed, Menelaus kills a suitor of Helen (not Paris), and offers much more additional dithering. The sorceress effects the reconciliation. Helen and Menelaus’ child then appears, and briefly sings.
Stage director and set designer Christian Rath created an atmosphere that was both then (antiquity) and then (the 1920’s — there was an old refrigerator sitting in the Atlas mountain refuge where the king of the mountain’s warriors had become 1920’s flashbulb photographer reporters). The whole story had begun in a 1920’s household where the singing seashell revealed herself as a real woman, not just a portrait hung over a fireplace.
It was a complex production that hopefully made sense to Mr. Rath, though it left me struggling to keep up with where I was, what Menelaus was drinking and thinking, what the sorceress Aitra was plotting and what Helen was doing. Not to mention understanding the intentions of the warrior Altair and his son Da-Ud [sic]. The production moved seamlessly and relentlessly from the household to hunts and storms, to bedrooms in the Atlas Mountains, in a series of scenic transitions that evoked the extravagant shapes and colors of the Vienna Secessionists. It was spectacular stagecraft.
Mr. Rath’s co-designer was Daniel Unger, with some additional, impressive projections by Elaine J. McCarthy.. Also spectacular was the lighting by designer Tyler Micoleau, obviously involving a plethora of sophisticated lighting instruments. The costume design by Mattie Ullrich ranged from simple dress for the protagonists to rich robes for the antagonists, the chorus was wigged and clothed as sprites, Spartan soldiers and period photographers.
The Sosnoff Theater of the Fisher Center at Bard seats 850 or so patrons. Its generous pit seems to accommodates about 70 players, thus the string contingent of the American Symphony Orchestra was minimal for a Strauss opera (10/8/6/6/5), the wind and brass numbers were as scored by Strauss. The pit is deep, creating a bottled sound from my seat in row Q, depriving me of both an orchestral presence and Strauss’ orchestral colors. The stage itself seems quite live, allowing clear projection of text.
The conductor was Leon Botstein, the long time music director of the American Symphony Orchestra, as well he is the artistic director of the Bard SummerScape. Mo. Botstein has brought many rare repertory operas to the Fisher Center. He has obvious affection for the Richard Strauss operas, conducting The Egyptian Helen with informed care.
The singing was indeed heroic. Helen was sung by Hailey Clark, the Bayreuth Festival’s 2023 Rheingold Freia. Her pitch unerring, she achieved her many, many above-the-staff notes with clarity and ease, while maintaining an evenness of tone throughout the soprano range. It was an impressive feat. Menelaus was sung by tenor John Matthew Myers who brought golden tone to his role (lead photo, with Hailey Clark as Helen). He too showed no signs of vocal fatigue as the continual punishments of the role unfolded. Jana McIntyre sang the sorceress Aithra, finding the vocal heft needed for the role within her lyric coloratura voice. Her versatility was used at a certain point for a major feat of unusual Straussian ornamentation. Mlle. McIntyre found both the airiness of her character and its dramatic weight.
Baritone Blake Denson well projected the willfulness of the Strauss villain, Altair in forceful and very present tone. His son, Da-Ud was sung by tenor Shawn Roth who was Menelaus’ victim, and a sympathetic pursuer of Helen.
Six dancers effected the movements of choreographer Catherine Galasso, sometimes mimicking mythological soldiers, other times embellishing the myriad psychological states of the singers. It was quite beautiful choreography, well executed.
Michael Milenski
Sosnoff Theater, Fisher Center, Bard College, New York, July 29, 2026