About the work
Richard Strauss's one-act opera with prologue, his second collaboration with Hugo von Hofmannsthal, exists in two distinct versions. The original 1912 version premiered as part of a German adaptation of Molière's Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme at the Königliches Hoftheater Stuttgart; the now-standard 1916 revision, with a newly composed operatic prologue replacing the play, premiered at the Hofoper Wien. The work reflects on the relationship between seria and buffa, tragedy and comedy.
Plot
In the prologue, a wealthy patron demands that his commissioned opera about Ariadne abandoned on Naxos be performed simultaneously with a commedia dell'arte troupe to save time before fireworks. The idealistic young Composer despairs; the leading ladies Ariadne and Zerbinetta argue. In the opera itself, Ariadne mourns Theseus's betrayal and waits for death as Hermes. The commedia troupe, led by the flirtatious Zerbinetta, attempts to cheer her up with philosophy about inconstant love. Zerbinetta performs the coloratura showpiece Großmächtige Prinzessin. Finally the god Bacchus arrives; Ariadne mistakes him first for Hermes, then accepts him as her new love.
Cultural significance
Ariadne auf Naxos is Strauss's most elegant meditation on operatic form and requires a chamber orchestra of soloistic virtuosity. Zerbinetta's aria is among the most demanding coloratura pieces in the repertoire, requiring high F and extensive ornamentation. The role of the Composer, a trouser role for mezzo-soprano, has been a career-defining part for singers from Agnes Baltsa to Sophie Koch. Christof Loy's production and Harry Kupfer's multiple stagings have brought out different dimensions of the work's meta-theatrical play.