This is the last opera written by Richard Strauss, with a German libretto by Clemens Krauss and is unlike any of his other operas.  It is more like a ‘conversation piece for music’ where the Countess has two suitors, Flamand and Olivier, representing music and words.  That is the context of the arguments and discussions that run throughout this opera.  The question is, what is more important, Music or Word - or should it be Word or Music - and which one of the suitors will take precedence in the heart of the Countess?