Credits:

Cornelius Meister

Description:

Henzes *The Prince of Homburg*, often regarded as a classic of modern opera, is a three-act work based on the play by Heinrich von Kleist. It addresses the profound and still-relevant theme of the conflict between individual freedom and the law of the state. Henze remarked, I was searching for words that, when combined with my music, could create something newin other words, the words my music had been seekingwhen I came across *The Prince of Homburg* by my friend von Kleist. Who else but he could have written such a libretto? […]. The friction between individual life and raison dtat (the primacy of national interest), the disregard for the law and issues of order, and the courage of human beings who resist while trembling in fear before the power of the rulersall of these are things that could happen today, and could just as easily have happened a thousand or two thousand years ago. [..