ARIADNE AUF NAXOS Strauss – Garsington Opera

An opera of two halves? A comedy of two halves? Ariadne auf Naxos is both at once and centres around the proposal of ‘the richest man in Vienna’ to commission two entertainments, one from a serious opera composer and one from a troupe of comedians. When he discovers that sitting through both separately would delay the firework display he has planned, he gives orders for the two shows to be performed simultaneously on the same stage. The earnest young Composer is horrified while the pragmatic Zerbinetta is happy to give it a go. As a result, the story of Ariadne, abandoned by Theseus on the island of Naxos and despairing of her lost love, is interrupted repeatedly by the comedians, keen to help and to advise her that the best way to cure a broken heart is to find another lover.

Ariadne auf Naxos is the fruit of the successful creative partnership between Richard Strauss and librettist Hugo von Hofmannsthal who came up with this eccentric idea after quite a few rewrites. Part of the unique flavour of this, the second version, derives from Strauss's brilliant juxtaposition of low comedy and high tragedy. In the prologue, he is at home depicting the quarrels and chaos of backstage theatrical life. In the opera, he slips easily from the heroic style in which Ariadne's part is composed to the buffooning of the commedia dell'arte characters. The combination strikes at the heart of what music and drama mean with a lightness of touch and sumptuous music. The creative team of director Bruno Ravella and conductor Mark Wigglesworth lead an excellent cast in the 2023 Garsington Opera production, which was acclaimed by audiences and critics alike.

Full performance streamed on OperaVision from 26 April 2024 at 19:00 CET to 26 October 2024 at 12:00 CET: https://operavision.eu/performance/ar...

CAST

Prima Donna / Ariadne
Natalya Romaniw

The Tenor / Bacchus
Young Woo Kim

Zerbinetta
Jennifer France

The Composer
Polly Leech

Music Master
William Dazeley

Dancing Master
John Graham-Hall

Harlequin
Marcus Farnsworth

Brighella
Innocent Masuku

Truffaldino
Ossian Huskinson

Scaramuccio
Richard Pinkstone

Naiad
Claire Lees

Dryad
Siân Griffiths

Echo
Harriet Eyley

Major-Domo
Walter van Dyk

A lackey
Daniel Vening

Officer
Zahid Siddiqui

A wigmaker
Jonathan Eyers

Orchestra
Philharmonia Orchestra

Music
Richard Strauss

Text
Hugo von Hofmannsthal

Conductor
Mark Wigglesworth

Director
Bruno Ravella

Set designer
Giles Cadle

Lighting
Malcolm Rippeth

Choreographer
Carmine De Amicis

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