A ravishing recreation of Richard Strauss’s nostalgic immersion in 18th-century Vienna, with the greatest-ever trio for female voices.

Love and lust. Culture and crudity. Disguise and deceit. Masters and servants. Opulence to die for. Raging hormones fuel the aristocratic intrigues in Richard Strauss’s indulgently Viennese celebration of the extravagant lifestyle of a bygone age. The orchestra is sumptuous. The sopranos soar with heart-stopping beauty. Operatic nostalgia doesn’t come any finer than this.

Sung in German with English surtitles.

Running time: 3 hours and 25 minutes plus two intervals after Acts I and II.