A hypnotic blend of myth, melodrama, and psychological intrigue, Richard Strauss’s seldom heard The Egyptian Helen (Die ägyptische Helena) receives a lavish, rare U.S. staging at Bard SummerScape.

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Strauss and librettist Hugo von Hofmannsthal reimagine the Helen myth, set in the aftermath of the Trojan War, as a tale of doubling: a phantom Helen returns to Troy, while the real, faithful Helen has been spirited away from harm. The vengeful husband, Menelaus, surrenders to love; the unfaithful Helen renews her devotion. The opera unfolds as a rich exploration of the complexities and contradictions of love, sexuality, and marriage.

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Director Christian Räth returns for his fourth Bard SummerScape to helm a full production of this neglected Strauss masterpiece. In Räth’s visionary staging, the mystical sorceress Aithra becomes the director of Helen and Menelaus’s story, seeing Helen as her alter ego and transforming the opera into a prism of fame, fantasy, and the creation of identity.

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