The creation of Daphne was laborious, especially from the poetic point of view (due to the modest talent of the librettist, Joseph Gregor), but on 15th October 1938 the opera was finally premièred at Dresden's Staatstheater. On the podium was the young conductor Karl Böhm. This opera is a masterpiece of early 20th-century vocal music. Structured in a single act, Daphne is a very consistent work with a rich musical vein. Strauss's orchestration appears, as always, remarkably refined. Vocal writing is demanding for all the main characters, but especially so for the protagonist, here finely interpreted by a magnificent June Anderson.