Deutsche Oper Berlin
The High Definition PCM Stereo and DTS HD Master Audio 5.0 audio tracks on the Blu-ray however really work marvellously, the mixing giving the voices adequate space, while putting across the full splendour and luscious beauty of a score that, superbly performed by the orchestra of the Deutsche Oper under Andrew Litton, ranges from delicate, sparkling playfulness to brooding, contemplative melancholy. Consummately Richard Strauss then, and this performance amply demonstrates the qualities and strengths of an opera that, like much of the composer�s late work, remains largely unknown, underperformed, underrated and surely ripe for rediscovery. Deutsche Oper Berlin; R. Strauss: Die Liebe der Danae
— Keris9, Opera Journal
Wave after wave of gorgeous music, vividly conducted by Andrew Litton. Deutsche Oper Berlin; R. Strauss: Die Liebe der Danae
— Lawrence Devoe, blu-raydefinition.com
The most wonderful element of this show is definitely its conductor, Andrew Litton, who demonstrated a rare mastery in almost analytically shaping up the Straussian sound. Like in The Egyptian Helen, he managed to give depth to the orchestra so that you could discern all the sound-patterns which—when combined—give you that complex but soothly music [so Richard Strauss-ian.] Not less important is the fact that the orchestra was all the time perfectly in sync with singers without ever getting even close to drowning them, despite Litton's use of every opportunity to kick some extra decibels into interludes. That man is a great Straussian conductor! Deutsche Oper Berlin; R. Strauss: The Love of Danae
— Opera Cake, opera-cake.blogspot.com
Die Agyptische Helena is a dog's breakfast of a libretto, incomprehensible, ungainly and silly. Strauss's score is similarly scrambled, a tangle of violent outbursts and gaudy kitsch. So it is a small miracle that Berlin's Deutsche Oper has come up with such a gripping production of the piece....Andrew Litton brings the necessary discipline and restraint to the score, giving the crass climaxes all they're worth without ever drowning his singers. Evidently a sow's ear can truly yield a silk purse.
— Shirley Apthorp, Financial Times
Another source of the [Die Agyptische Helena's] success is the conductor Andrew Litton. Strauss's big orchestral moments make due impact but no less telling is the sustained tension Litton brings to quiet passages.
— George Loomis, International Herald Tribune
Rarely, if ever, does any production manage to answer as many questions as "Egyptian Helen" raises. That, however, is exactly what the Deutsche Oper accomplishes with virtually flawless casting. Credit for this stroke of good fortune goes to Marelli and, in equal measure, to Conductor Andrew Litton and his orchestra, who achieve amazing sonorities from the very first bar, pouring body and soul into a brilliant performance.
— Von Klaus Geitel, Berlin Morgen Post