This work, Strauss's penultimate opera, is the Cinderella of his stage pieces. It has formerly been recorded only once (that was of the official premiere at Munich under Krauss in 1952, using a cut text, and recently released by Orfeo) and few revivals outside Munich have followed, though there was a memorable concert performance under Thielemann not long ago. Listening to this set, based on much-lauded performances at last summer's Garsington Festival, one can appreciate the reasons for its neglect. Despite a number of pages in Strauss's most appealing, late autumnal vein, it is deeply flawed, not least because of Josef Gregor's high-flown but wordy and rather empty libretto. It deals with the problems of late love, metamorphosis and the perils of worshipping money, all placed in a Hellenic setting, and ending in riches to rags as Danae prefers Midas as donkey-driver to the lure of gold and the attractions of Jupiter.
As is so often the case in the composer's later works for the stage, the most convincing and inspired music comes in the last half-hour. Here, in an extended duet for Danae and Jupiter, the god finally realises and accepts that he is not about to make another conquest. We encounter echoes here of earlier pieces and pre-echoes of Capriccio and the Four Last Songs. Unfortunately, in the earlier acts, Strauss too often seems either to be merely note-spinning or indulging in somewhat heavy-handed comedy (or both) ; as with earlier works, he had an operetta in mind but never quite achieves the lightness or tunefulness that such a plan predicates.
Strauss himself wrote quite a severe review of the opera after the famous 1944 Dress Rehearsal in Salzburg (which never led to the intended premiere owing to wartime exigencies), but he did admire the glow and variety of his scoring - and he was right to do so, at least when you hear how gloriously Elgar Howarth's wholehearted conducting brings out its many felicities. He also manages to draw the score's many disparate elements into a reasonably coherent whole and to persuade his orchestra into a committed and incandescent reading.
Orla Boylan leads the cast with a headily sung account of Danae's music: as ever, Strauss favours his leading lady with his best music. She may not make the most of the text, and her characterisation occasionally sounds a shade pallid (though that is partly the fault of composer and librettist), but the vocal sound is indisputably Straussian. Both male principals seem to be punching a little above their weight. Coleman-Wright identifies thoroughly with the key part of Jupiter, making the most of the text, and consequently sings with total conviction, but his slightly grainy baritone lacks the warmth and body which the part - created for Hotter, later undertaken by Schoeffler - demands. Horst Taubmann, the Midas at Salzburg, had a beautiful soaring tenor that Thompson cannot match. For all his sensitivity and musicality, his tight vibrato makes for uncomfortable listening when he has to place pressure on his tone, which is much of the time. Smaller roles are taken adequately, but no more.
The recording doesn't quite capture either singers or players in a well-defined sound, which is perhaps the fault of the venue. The booklet leaves much to be desired. Any one of our own Strauss specialists could have provided a more illuminating, helpful note than the one included here and, as far as I can see, there is no track- listing. Three CDs at full price for this set seems a bit steep, but Straussians won't count the cost. We must still hope that Decca might give us a set with Fleming, Terfel and Heppner as (what surely would be) ideal principals.'