L'Upupa und der Triumph der Sohnesliebe (English: The Hoopoe and the Triumph of Filial Love) is an opera by Hans Werner Henze with a German libretto by the composer, inspired by Arab and Persian legends. This is Henze's 15th, and self-stated final, opera, and the first where he has written his own libretto. The opera was first performed at the Salzburg Festival on 12 August 2003 in a co-production with the Deutsche Oper Berlin and the Teatro Real, Madrid, staged by Dieter Dorn, set by Jürgen Rose. For the premiere, the originally scheduled conductor was Christian Thielemann and the original singer scheduled as "The demon" was Ian Bostridge, but in their places, Markus Stenz conducted and John Mark Ainsley sang "The demon". Critics have noted stylistic allusions to the music of Alban Berg and Igor Stravinsky, as well as to the operas Die Entführung aus dem Serail, The Magic Flute, Die Frau ohne Schatten, Tristan und Isolde and Parsifal. Roles The role of "the nameless dictator" is unseen and unheard. Synopsis Al Radshi, an old man, who lives in a tower on Manda, the island of the black baboons, laments the absence of his golden bird, a hoopoe that used to visit him daily. Al Radshi once reached out to touch the hoopoe, which caused it to fly away. Since then, the bird has not been seen. Al Radshi asks his three sons to go off on a quest to find the hoopoe and return it to him. Two of the sons are untrustworthy and lazy, but the third, Al Kasim, is honest and brave. Al Kasim is the only son to go off in search of the hoopoe. Al Kasim does find the hoopoe, with the help of a demon, who is a fallen angel with tattered black wings and who has been barred from heaven for an unidentified crime. Al Kasim then has to find and rescue a captive princess, Badi'eat el-Hosn. He does so, and falls in love with her. His next quest is to find a magic chest. After Al Kasim has obtained these three treasures, the other two brothers reappear and push Kasim and Badi'aet el-Hosn down a well. Those two brothers return to their father and claim credit for performing Al Kasim's acts. However, Al Kasim and Badi'aet el-Hosn are eventually rescued. The other two brothers are expelled from the island. Al Kasim cannot