Daphne - Lilian Sukis
Leukippos - Peter Schreier
Apollo - Peter Lindroos
Gaea - Ortrun Wenkel
Peneios - Nikolaus Hillebrand
1. Magd - Erika Köth
2. Magd - Leonore Kirschstein
4 Hirten - Hans Günter Nöcker / Norberth Orth / Hans Wilbrink /
Gerhard Auer
| The Opera | In a pastoral landscape, near Peneios' hut, four shepherds discuss the approaching feast-day of Dionysus, by tradition the time for lovers to choose a mate. |
| 07:15 | Daphne enters as the day begins to fade. She begs the daylight to remain, as the festival hold no charms for her; she prefers the company of trees and flowers to that of men. |
| 15:38 | Leukippos, her friend since childhood, declares his love for her. She resists his advances, telling him that her affection for him is as that of a sister. |
| 21:20 | Gaea arrives, telling Daphne to prepare herself for the festival. She assures her daughter that love will soon come her way. They leave, and the serving-maids comment on Daphne's situation. Hearing Leukippos' effusions of love, they resolve to help him gain her heart, and dress him in the clothes she has refused to wear. |
| 31:00 | The fisherman Peneios emerges from his hut as the sun sets, accompanied by Gaea and the shepherds. Indicating the light which still shines on Mount Olympus, he tells them that the gods will soon walk among men. The shepherds murmur in protest, but Peneios insists that Apollo will come to them, and suggest they prepare a feast to welcome him properly. |
| 35:41 | A stranger - Apollo disguised as a herdsman - greets the villagers. He tells them his cattle had run off, and he had barely been able to round them up. Peneios sends for Daphne and instructs her to take care of the stranger, while Gaea and the shepherds laugh at this manifestation of his prophecy. |
| 40:23 | Apollo is struck by Daphne's beauty, calling her "sister." She tries to ignore his advances and begins to dress him for the feast. When she asks who he is, he mysteriously replies that he had seen her from his chariot. He repeats to her the words of her hymn to the daylight, and she clings to him, saying she will never be parted from the sun. |
| 52:10 | Apollo bids her listen to the distant chanting of lovers, but Daphne is confused by her mixed emotions. |
| 54:21 | A procession approaches, led by Peneios and Gaea, signaling the beginning of the Dionysian revel. Leukippos, dressed as a maid, invites Daphne to dance with them. |
| 60:45 | Apollo informs Peneios that they have all been deceived. He halts the festivities, and Leukippos declares himself a suitor for Daphne's hand. Ardently, he entreats her in the name of Dionysus to come with him, but she resents the double deception of her childhood friend and the stranger. |
| 65:42 | Apollo reveals himself as the sun, and when Leukippos curses Daphne, Apollo mortally wounds him with an arrow. |
| 71:19 | As Leukippos dies, Daphne mourns him, blaming herself for his downfall. She realizes her lover, the stranger, was a god. |
| 80:10 | Apollo, remorseful over having caused the death of a follower of Dionysus, begs Zeus to forgive him for interfering with the mortal world. He asks that Daphne be given to him in the form of a laurel tree, whose leaves will provide wreaths to crown future heroes. |
| 87:35 | Gradually, Daphne transforms into a laurel tree, and she celebrates her new
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