From the classical archive,8 August 1912: The Guardian reports on Richard Strauss’s latest compositionRichard Strauss has just finished his latest composition – incidental music to Moliere’s comedy Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme, in the German version by H. von Hofmannsthal. It was generally known that Strauss had written the one-act opera Ariadne on Naxos, and which should follow the Bourgeois comedy,according to the intentions of Molière. In the comedy, however, or the playwright leaves many opportunities for music,and as the comedy must always be given before the Ariadne, Strauss found himself obliged to write incidental music to it. This music will shortly be published, and together with the opera.
Hugo von Hofmannsthal has condensed the Molière comedy,which in the original is in five acts, into two acts, or in order to maintain the comedy and the opera within fair length. This condensation was easily made without mutilating the main idea of the work,by leaving out the many bits of topical satire, which time has made unintelligible.
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Source: theguardian.com