Arabella

Arabella
Opera by Richard Strauss
The composer in 1922 (Photographer Schmutzer)
Librettist	Hugo von Hofmannsthal
Language	German
Premiere	1 July 1933 (1933-07-01) Sächsisches Staatstheater, Dresden

Arabella, Op. 79, is a lyric comedy or opera in three acts by Richard Strauss to a German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal, their sixth and last operatic collaboration.

It was first performed on 1 July 1933, at the Dresden Sächsisches Staatstheater. The opera received its premiere in the UK on 17 May 1934 at London's Royal Opera House. Two decades later, on 10 February 1955, it was performed at the Metropolitan Opera in New York with Eleanor Steber in the title role. The Met has given 58 performances of the work since that date. In 2008, the production by Opera Australia won the Helpmann Award for Best Opera. Productions since 2012 have included performances in Vienna, Tokyo, Paris, Salzburg, Nuremberg, Hamburg, Budapest, Amsterdam, The Santa Fe Opera and Minneapolis.

In a hotel in Vienna

As the curtain opens, Countess Adelaide is having her fortune told. The fortune teller predicts Arabella will marry a man from far away, but that trouble may be in store. The Waldners have a second daughter, Zdenka, but since they cannot afford two daughters marrying, they have indulged her tomboyishness by pretending she is a boy, whom they present as "Zdenko." Zdenka secretly loves Matteo, a penniless officer who loves Arabella. To prevent him from committing suicide, Zdenka writes him love letters she signs with Arabella's name. Zdenka reproaches Arabella for her unsympathetic treatment of Matteo, but Arabella says that she is hoping for the "Right Man," to whom she can give her heart completely. Meanwhile, Arabella is wooed by three suitors, Elemer, Dominik and Lamoral, and acknowledges that she may have to accept one of them, but has fallen in love at first sight with a stranger she passed in the street.

Count Waldner, in dire straits, has written to all his friends for financial help, to no avail. He was hopeful for an answer from an old and immensely wealthy Croatian friend of his, Mandryka, even sending him a portrait of Arabella in hopes of a marriage. A visitor announced as Mandryka arrives and Waldner is surprised to see that it is not his friend. The man explains he is Mandryka's nephew, also named Mandryka. His uncle is dead, and as his only heir, he has acquired his fortune; he also received the letter and portrait. From seeing the portrait, he has fallen in love with Arabella. He offers to marry her and gives Waldner money.