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Arabella

opera · lyrische Komödie

Composer Richard Strauss

Librettist Hugo von Hofmannsthal

Synopsis

The impoverished Count Waldner has staked his family's fortune on Arabella, his elder daughter, marrying well, while Zdenka, the younger, is raised as a boy to spare a second debut. Arabella, courted by three counts she cannot love, is unsettled to learn her photograph has already been promised to a stranger, Mandryka.

Key facts

Premiere
1 July 1933, Sächsische Staatsoper, Dresden
Acts
3
Language
German (de)
Setting
Vienna, in 1860.

Notes

The only version, and the last of six Strauss operas written with Hofmannsthal, who died in 1929 shortly after completing the libretto.

Dramatis personae

Role Voice Created by
Graf Waldner A retired cavalry captain. bass Friedrich Plaschke
Adelaide Count Waldner's wife. mezzo-soprano Camilla Kallab
Arabella The Waldners' elder daughter. soprano Viorica Ursuleac
Zdenka Arabella's younger sister. soprano Margit Bokor
Mandryka A Croatian landowner. baritone Alfred Jerger
Matteo An officer of a Jäger regiment. tenor Martin Kremer
Graf Elemer A suitor of Arabella. tenor Karl Albrecht Streib
Graf Dominik A suitor of Arabella. baritone Kurt Böhme
Graf Lamoral A suitor of Arabella. bass Arno Schellenberg
Die Fiakermilli Mascot of the Viennese cabbies' ball. soprano (coloratura) Eliza Illiard
Eine Kartenaufschlägerin A fortune teller. soprano Jessyka Koettrik
Welko Mandryka's hussar. spoken role Robert Büssel
Djura One of Mandryka's servants. spoken role Rudolf Schmalnauer
Jankel One of Mandryka's servants. spoken role Horst Falke
Ein Zimmerkellner A hotel waiter. spoken role Ludwig Eybisch
Begleiterin der Arabella Arabella's chaperone. silent role —
Drei Spieler Three card players. silent role —
Ein Arzt A doctor. silent role —

Source

Original libretto.

Written from