Grand comic opera in two acts, in Hungarian, with Hungarian surtitles
Große komische Oper – these words make for unfamiliar reading where Wagnerian genre descriptions are concerned. Aside from 1868's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, the great German composer wrote only one other comic opera: Das Liebesverbot, an early work from the start of his career.
Based on Shakespeare's Measure for Measure, Wagner substantially revised the plot, but its theme nevertheless remains intact: repressed desire and a criticism of false prudery, all presented as a comedy. This collaboration with the Kolozsvár (Cluj-Napoca) Hungarian Opera is directed by Máté Szabó.