Capriccio is an opera by German composer Richard Strauss. The foyer of Charles Garniers Opéra, Paris, opened 1875 Opera is an art form consisting of a dramatic stage performance set to music. ... Richard Strauss (June 11, 1864 – September 8, 1949) was a German composer of the late Romantic era, particularly noted for his tone poems and operas. ...

Capriccio was Strauss's final work (Op. 85) which premiered in Munich in 1942, five years before Strauss's death. The libretto was written by Clemens Krauss and Strauss himself. Munich: Frauenkirche and Town Hall steeple Munich (German: München (pronounced listen) is the state capital of the German state of Bavaria. ... A libretto is the body of words used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, oratorio, or musical. ... Clemens Krauss (born in Wien, March 31, 1893 – buried at Mexico City, May 16, 1954) was an Austrian conductors. ...

He subtitled it "A Conversation Piece for Music," and it is indeed "talky" and conversational, with minimal stage action. Its subject can be summarized as, "Which is more important: words or music?"

This question is dramatized in the story of a Countess torn between two suitors: Olivier, a poet, and Flamand, a composer. In her salon outside Paris, the two prepare for her birthday celebrations and vie for her affections by debating the merits of words versus music. Joining the lively debate are a theatre director, La Roche; an actress, Clairon; the Countess's brother; and a pair of Italian opera singers. Salon may refer to: a room in a house used for receiving guests. ... The Eiffel Tower has become a symbol of Paris throughout the world. ...

Words and music, of course, join together to create the unique art form of opera. Capriccio has a reputation as something of an insider's opera, an opera about opera for opera lovers. (In recent years, it has been described by reviewers as a "meta-opera".) Meta (Greek: about, beyond), is a common English prefix, used to indicate a concept which is an abstraction from another concept, used to analyze the latter. ...

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