| Act I |
The curtain opens on a torch-lit room in a palace on an island off the
coast of Egypt, the time shortly after the sack of Troy. |
| 01:09 |
Aithra sits alone with her all-knowing sea shell. Her servant offers her a
drink of forgetfulness which she refuses. The Mussel reports on a ship off the
coast with Menelas about to kill his wife, Helena. Aithra raises and stills a
storm so the couple can get to land. |
| 11:00 |
Helena immediately takes command of the situation and offers a drink to
Menelas, who still rejects her |
| 17:33 |
Helena tells Menelas that he has always loved her, but he declares he must
kill her for his and their daughter's honor.. Menelas is on the point of
slitting her throat, but he gazes at her face and is stopped short by her
beauty. |
| 23:22 |
As Menelas hesitates, Aithra enters and orders the elves to divert his
attention and draw him away. He rushes off and Aithra introduces herself to
Helena. |
| 27:34 |
Aithra waves her hands over Helena and urges Helena to drink. Helena slowly
drifts off to sleep. The Servant carries the sleeping Helena into an adjoining
room. |
| 33:37 |
Menelas returns, confused. Aithra tells him that Helena is sleeping in the
next room. Aithra lies to Menelas that Helena did not run off with Paris, but
dreamt that she lay in Menelas's arms; a phantom Helena had deceived Troy and
Menelas. Menelas imagines that he hears Helena coming up from the nether
regions. |
| 43:10 |
Helena is seen rising from her bed. Under the influence of the lotus,
Menelas imagines he sees before him the beloved wife he left when he went
hunting so many years before. Aithra hints to Helena her little fiction. Helena
accuses her husband of loving the phantom. They reconcile, and Aithra prepares
to whisk them off to an oasis for a second honeymoon as they sleep |
| Act II |
Helena sings the best-known piece from this opera, the aria "Zweite
Brautnacht." Menelas awakens in a complete muddle and in his confusion is
ready to flee. Helena again calls the dark powers to her aid . |
| 09:33 |
Aithra and her sisters send the sheikh Altair to serve Helena. Altair's
teenaged son Da-ud reveals that he has also fallen under her spell. Menelas sees
Paris in Da-ud. Altair announces that he will mount a hunt in Menelas's honor,
secretly expecting his son or Menelas to kill the other. Helena laughs at the
boy's proclamation of love. Da-ud rushes off, as Menelas reutrns, remarking on
the earlier hunt when he had lost his wife. Helena tries to take the sword away
from him, but Menelas goes off to the hunt. |
| 26:17 |
Aithra and two of her servants reveal themselves to Helena and tells Helena
of the drink of remembrance; Helena exclaims that this will solve their
problems. Despite telling Helena that it would bring about her death, Aithra
cannot talk Helena out of her decision. Altair approaches, making no secret of
his intentions. Helena warns him not to violate her position as a guest as
Aithra laughs that all Helena's troubles result from her beauty. Aithra's
servants break in with an account of the hunt, ending with Da-ud's death. |
| 35:07 |
Menelas follows Da-ud's body in a daze. Preparing for Altair's feast,
Helena and Aithra's servants mix the drink of remembrance. Altair's followers
enter with concealed weapons. Menelas and Helena drink. Menelas is about to kill
her when Aithra brings him up short with mention of their daughter. He gazes at
Helena, realizes that he loves Helena, and forgives her. Altair bursts in but is
stopped by Poseidon's legions with the couple's daughter Hermione. As their
horses are saddled, Helena and Menelas call upon the winds to carry them home
accompanied by a surging orchestral conclusion. |