Capriccio represents the culmination of Strauss's operatic career, just as Metamorphosen and the Four Last Songs are the capstones of his orchestral and vocal writing. Capriccio was premiered in 1942 in Munich, whose beloved opera house was destroyed by Allied bombing the following year. The Nazi regime, too, soon fell, but Strauss's opera--focusing on eternal questions of love and art--has become increasingly popular and is widely considered one of his greatest works.