Bard Summerscape’s The Egyptian Helen Covered in Bachtrack and Radio Kingston

The Egyptian Helen, the Fisher Center’s grand-scale new production of Richard Strauss’s epic 1928 opera, was reviewed in Bachtrack and covered in Radio Kingston. Loosely based on Helen, a play by Euripides, the opera addresses the question of how legendary lovers Helen and Menelaus came to reconcile after the Trojan War, as shown but not explained in The Odyssey. “Bard and Botstein offer a splendid show on every level,” writes Robert Levine for Bachtrack. “The music is full throttle Strauss, prodigious and sumptuous, filled with colorful orchestration and with occasional dips into intimate, almost chamber-like passages.” On Radio Kingston’s Middays With Julia Furlan, Egyptian Helen sopranos Haley Clark (Helen) and Jana McIntyre (Aithra) spoke with Furlan about the production and how they are bringing spectacle and the power of women supporting women to the stage.
 

Post Date: 07-29-2026