 The work is dedicated to Bruno Walter.The opera was first performed on 18 August 1912 by the Oper Frankfurt, conducted by Ludwig Rottenberg and continued to be performed regularly over the next two decades when it held a special place in the German-speaking world as one of the pioneering works of modern opera.Important productions included the Czech premiere in May 1920 at the Neues Deutsches Theater in Prague under Alexander Zemlinsky and the highly successful Berlin State Opera production of May 1925 under Erich Kleiber with Richard Tauber and the composers wife Maria Schreker in the leading roles.