Kornelios Selamsis

Leonce and Lena 


Büchner’s play is considered one of the most important classic comedies of German Romanticism. The satire’s protagonists are the prince of the Kingdom of Popo, Leonce, and the princess of the Kingdom of Pipi, Lena. Determined to avoid an arranged marriage, the young people resolve—independently of one another—to run away to Italy. Once there, however, unaware of one another’s identities, they fall in love and marry. Charmed by the work, Kornelios Selamsis thought it a perfect match for the operatic idiom; presented as a fully-fledged opera, it has a poetic libretto by Giannis Asteris.