Richard Strauss: Ariadne auf Naxos - Opera Overture and Dance Scene Op. 60 (1916)
1. Opera Overture 00:00
2. Dance Scene 03:05
Orchestra: Weimar Staatskapelle
Conductor: Michael Halász
Naxos 2008
Strauss completed the first version of his collaboration with Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Ariadne auf Naxos (Ariadne on Naxos) in 1912 and a revised version in 1916. The original work had been based on Molière's Le bourgeois gentilhomme in which the arriviste Monsieur Jourdain displays his wealth and comic lack of taste. The original version included a German version of Molière, followed by the entertainment Monsieur Jourdain had commanded. In the second version the first act is replaced by a Prologue, after which the opera is staged, an opera seria interspersed with characters from the commedia dell'arte. The tragic heroine Ariadne, a Cretan princess, is abandoned by her lover Theseus on the island of Naxos, where she finally meets Bacchus, to be united with him. The introspection of the heroine is interrupted by the intervention of Zerbinetta and her commedia dell'arte companions, who provide an ironic contrast. Both elements of the opera are represented in the orchestral extracts. The overture befits the seeming tragedy, while the dance scene represents the attempts of the comedians to divert Ariadne, and Zerbinetta's expected romance with Harlequin.
Ariadne auf Naxos (Ariadne on Naxos), Op. 60, is a 1912 opera by Richard Strauss with a German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. The opera's unusual combination of elements of low commedia dell'arte with those of high opera seria points up one of the work's principal themes: the competition between high and low art for the public's attention.
Second version (1916)
After these initial performances, it became apparent that the work as it stood was impracticable: it required a company of actors as well as an opera company, was thus very expensive to mount, and its length was likely to be a problem for audiences. So in 1913, Hofmannsthal proposed to Strauss that the play should be replaced by a prologue, which would explain why the opera combines a serious classical story with a comedy performed by a commedia dell'arte group. He also moved the action from Paris to Vienna. Strauss was initially reluctant, but he composed the prologue (and modified some aspects of the opera) in 1916, and this revised version was first performed at the Vienna State Opera on 4 October of that year. This is the version that is normally staged today, although the original play-plus-opera has been occasionally performed, such as at the 1997 Edinburgh International Festival and at the 2012 Salzburg Festival.
The most important aria in either version is Zerbinetta's Großmächtige Prinzessin (High and mighty princess). Other important pieces of the opera are the arias of Ariadne Wo war ich? (Where was I?), Ein Schönes war (There was something beautiful) and Es gibt ein Reich (There is a realm). Also of note is the Composer's aria Sein wir wieder gut! (Let's be friends again).
Performance history of the second version:
After its premiere in Vienna, the second version was first performed in Berlin on 1 November 1916, followed by Zürich on 28 January 1917 (in a production by the Mannheim Opera). It was first presented in Budapest on 19 April 1919 (in a Hungarian translation by Z. Harsányi), and in German in Graz on 12 March 1920, Amsterdam in January 1924,[4] and London at the Royal Opera House on 27 May 1924 with Lotte Lehmann as Ariadne, Maria Ivogün as Zerbinetta (in her debut with the company), Elisabeth Schumann as the Composer, Karl Fischer-Niemann as Bacchus, and Carl Alwin conducting. Despite the stellar cast, the production was not successful, with one of the lowest box office returns of the season. It was repeated only once.
