The fifteenth full Opera from the prolific Hans Werner Henze and the first to feature a self-penned libretto. After the poems he wrote for his Songs from the Arabian Henze has produced this unusal tale through adaptingboth Arab and Persian legends and invoking the same half-real half-imaginary Arabia as the song cycle. The story itself is a fairy tale comedy with much in common with The Magic Flute. The orchestral arrangement is huge featuring quadruple wind five percussionists and a part for tape.
