Il Re Cervo oder Die Irrfahrten der Wahrheit

Henze writes the following on the subject of the new version which he revised together with the librettist Heinz von Cramer as a reaction to the problems accompanying the first performance in Berlin: 

We have cut entire portions of scenes and replaced them with shortened versions. We have inserted a spoken role, the magician Cigolotti, to ensure that the plot remains comprehensible despite the abridgements. I have composed several new sections as a substitute for larger-scale movements. The finale of the second act has become my ‘Fourth Symphony’ and I have reduced the size of the orchestra. The work as a whole is practical to perform – a compromise which we have undertaken to obviate the need for further ‘versions’.