by This is entirely based on my opinion, and on how much I enjoyed the opera. Operas are roughly ordered within a given tier. This list does not include Der Kampf mit dem Drachen or Des Esels Schatten.
S
Elektra (1909): Elektra grabs you by the throat and doesn’t let go for roughly 100 minutes. The first 20 minutes alone are some of the best-orchestrated music of all time and an absolute masterclass in how to generate intensity from sparse orchestration. Is this Strauss’ most melodic opera? His most beautiful? Certainly not. If that’s what you’re looking for, Elektra will definitely rate lower. To me, though, the brutality of this opera makes it the most exciting of the bunch.
Die Frau ohne Schatten (1919): Strauss is, one might say, not known for writing music of great practicality, convenience, or ease. This opera is not very well known for that reason; it is virtually impossible for most opera houses to stage or to perform this work thanks to the dramatic and musical demands made on performers. That said, it’s worth the effort.
Capriccio (1942): The comedy of this opera is easy to miss, most of it is musical and more subtle than Strauss’ more overtly comic operas (especially Schweigsame). This is probably the most thought-provoking of all of his operas, lending itself to endless interpretation.
Daphne (1938): To me, Daphne is the musical stand-out among Strauss’ late operas. Like in Elektra, he gets right to the point dramatically while leaving room for some great orchestral interludes. The Heldentenor writing in particular shines in this opera.
Ariadne auf Naxos (1916 — second version): If you can sit through the opening recitative, it’s worth it. Strauss writes two of the finest soprano arias in the repertoire in close succession and presents an interesting juxtaposition of styles that works surprisingly well (though the parody is not as funny as in Die Schweigsame Frau, in my opinion). The prologue scene isn’t as musically dense as the opera proper, but is definitely more interesting than I initially gave it credit for.
A
Die schweigsame Frau (1935): In my opinion, Strauss’ funniest opera. Strauss uses the tropes and history of the genre to great parodic effect. The coloratura part of Aminta is far from easy but extremely impressive when executed, even compared to Strauss’ usual mastery of writing for voices (and for female voices in particular).
Die Ägyptische Helena (1928 — I only know the original version): Another Greek mythology banger from Strauss. Plus, as Wikipedia is keen to point out, it’s the only major opera in the repertory with a role for an omniscient sea shell. Difficult orchestral writing hampers its playability, and opera companies who are willing to put up with the trouble of putting this on will often just elect to stage one of his better operas.
Arabella (1933): Certainly this is nowhere close to S tier, but it’s a pretty solid opera. I would call it underrated because it doesn’t have anything in particular that makes it stand out, but it’s far from the worst entry on this list. Act 3 in particular is chock-full of very exciting music.
Die Liebe der Danaë (completed 1940, premiered posthumously in 1952): This opera scrapes into A tier on account of its orchestration. I think this opera is a bit too long for what it is, but it’s hard to argue with the incredible color of the music he writes for this opera. Lots of beautiful music but ultimately not Strauss’ best work.
Salome (1905): I think the shock of this opera has dulled too much in the past century to fully appreciate it. Certainly it has many redeeming qualities, but it goes on a little too long for my taste. The more I hear it, the more that I do actually hear the “Mendelssohn fairy music” that Strauss claimed this opera was.
B
Feuersnot (1901): This opera does Strauss very well but doesn’t do Wagner nearly as well (despite the very cute references throughout the back half of the opera). The dramatic content is not as compelling or as well-developed as his later operas, but the music still has much to offer: I would consider this to be one of the finer orchestrations of his tone poem period (though it’s certainly no Also sprach Zarathustra).
C
Der Rosenkavalier (1911): Rosenkavalier is overrated. It’s three hours of melody soup and any parodic or satirical content doesn’t really hit. None of the things that make Strauss’ operas interesting to me are present here, and there’s no “historical curiosity” angle to listening to this (unlike something like Die Feen or Feuersnot) since audiences have decided that this is the Strauss opera they want to hear.
Intermezzo (1927): Some moments of great music but ultimately not that interesting — better to just listen to the symphonic arrangement and get the highlights than to listen to the entire opera. The whole letter plot is kind of funny but really the opera just goes on much too long for what it is.
Friedenstag (1938): I am tempted to go as far as saying this works better as a political statement than as an opera. The depth of characterization that characterizes Strauss’ best works is not present to the same degree in this opera, and I would say the same of orchestral color. Much of the latter problem is due to the paucity of orchestral passages in the opera, which could probably have been inserted to the benefit of the opera (I suspect this has something to do with the fact that this was originally intended as a double-bill with Daphne, which thankfully does not suffer the same problems). At the very least, no one can accuse this opera of overstaying its welcome.
D
Guntram (1894): While Wagner did write some absolute masterpieces, he also wrote so many mediocre operas that it baffles me why a generation of composers in his wake did nothing but imitate him. Thankfully, Strauss broke out of his Wagner knock-off phase before long and got to composing good operas.
I’m not including Strauss’ arrangement of Idomeneo on the list since it’s really more Mozart than Strauss. There are recordings of the work out there but no scores available, as far as I can see, so it’s hard to provide a proper evaulation. I think Strauss’ vocal ensemble are effective but the instrumental interlude sounds far too out of place, even if it works as a standalone orchestral passage.
Daniel Chevallier 
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