Capriccio

"The leading Strauss soprano of our time, Renee Fleming stars in one of her most acclaimed stage roles, the countess in Richard Strauss's Capriccio. Capriccio examines the age old debate of what is superior, music or poetry. In the opera this manifests itself through the widowed Countess struggling to decide between two potential lovers, the composer Flamand or poet Olivier. Her indecision reaches its climax in the famously beautiful final scene, one of Strauss's most passionate soliloquies."
"Renée Fleming is Countess Madeleine, the beautiful, enigmatic woman at the center of Strauss's sophisticated "Conversation Piece for Music." She is being courted by two men: Joseph Kaiser sings the composer, Flamand, and Russell Braun is Olivier, the poet. The stellar cast also includes Peter Rose as the theater director La Roche, Sarah Connolly as the actress Clairon, and Morten Frank Larsen as the Countess's brother. John Cox's elegant production places the action in the 1920s. Andrew Davis conducts."
"Two rival suitors vie for the love of the Countess, who must decide which one she loves."