Opera Richard Strauss "Ariadne auf Naxos" (one act opera with prologue). Concert performance World famous Mariinsky Ballet and Opera Theatre - Opera and Concert Hall
Running time: 2 hours
Schedule for Richard Strauss "Ariadne auf Naxos" (one act opera with prologue). Concert performance 2022
Musical Director: Maestro Valery Gergiev Composer: Richard Strauss Musical Preparation: Larisa Gergieva Conductor: Leonid Korchmar Libretto: Hugo von Hofmannsthal Choreography: Yuri Smekalov Conductor: Christian Knapp
Orchestra: Mariinsky Theatre Symphony Orchestra
opera in concert in 1 acts
Premiere of this production: 8 March 2011, Concert Hall of the Mariinsky Theatre, St Petersburg
One act opera with prologue Music by Richard Strauss Libretto by Hugo von
Hofmannsthal The prologue and commedia dell'arte scenes are performed
in Russian The arias and ensembles are performed
in German Musical Director: Valery Gergiev Conductor:
Christian Knapp & Leonid Korchmar Director: Michael Sturminger
Costumes and Set Designers: Renate Martin & Andreas Donhauser
Musical Preparation: Larisa Gergieva Onstage Movement: Yuri Smekalov
Literary Consultant: Derek Weber
World premiere of first version: 25 october 1912, Kleines Haus des
Hoftheaters, Stuttgart World premiere of second version: 4
October 1916, Court Opera (Hofoper), Vienna Premiere at the Mariinsky
Theatre: 18 October 2004, Saint-Petersburg Premiere of
the production at the Concert Hall of the Mariinsky Theatre:
8 March 2011, St Petersburg
Running time 2 hours The Performance without interval
“At the end of the performance, which lasted two and
a half hours with no interval, the audience broke into a frenzy
from the “high” they had received, and so Ariadne has every chance
of being a success in the future.” Rossiiskaya Gazeta
“Pudova, with her clear, powerful and pliant voice, deserved the praise
of the audience from her very first appearance. Three girls –
Anastasia Kalagina, Anna Kiknadze and Eleonora Vindau (Naiad, Dryad and
Echo) – wove their voices together in an intricate series of
ensembles and they looked, so to speak, ‘a million dollars.’”
Infox.ru
“In readiness to storm the Tchaikovsky Competition, Olga Pudova (as
Zerbinetta, the irrepressible leader of the troupe of comedians) and
Maria Maksakova (in the mezzo-soprano role of the Composer) of
the famed Maksakov performing dynasty performed and sang brilliantly.
Singers acting out love… They gave the audience the chance to consider
whether or not there might be some lesbian subtext in Strauss’ operas.
The more so as in the score there is rather a lot of
decadent erotic flair in the love dialogues of the various female
voices.” Izvestia
“The three nymphs were surprisingly the best – Anastasia
Kalagina, Anna Kiknadze and Eleonora Vindau. These blossoming young women
in their stunning 18th century dresses with their brilliant voices blended
together in an excellent ensemble reflected the mystery which, even
in comic operas, is present with Strauss. And, of course, in Valery
Gergiev’s orchestra, with its unparalleled ability to draw out the dying
chords as if life itself were coming to an end this instant.” Vedomosti
“Sturminger is a genius because blending genres, styles and eras seems
to come to him so easily. He resolved the task with Mozartian dazzle.”
Delovoi Peterburg
Synopsis
Prologue A rich man of the town is giving
a party. He has ordered a sumptuous banquet with fireworks and
a surprise for his guests – a performance of the opera
Ariadne auf Naxos. The master of the house has commissioned
it from a young composer engaged famous singers for the premiere.
During the final preparations the musicians learn by chance that
after the premiere the same stage will host a performance by
a lowbrow troupe of comedians led by the capricious dancer Zerbinetta.
The musicians are incensed at this coupling and the composer himself
feels that his work will be degraded. Just before the opera begins,
however, the capricious patron’s servant announces that his master has
changed his plans yet again: now he wants both the tragic opera and
the buffonade to be performed simultaneously. The musicians are
perplexed as to how this can be achieved. Zerbinetta and her troupe are not
at all perturbed by this. They are used to improvising on the stage.
The young composer, however, is as dark as a thundercloud. Ultimately
he is forced to agree to an abridged performance of his opus. At this difficult
time he finds consolation in Zerbinetta: after a heated dispute about
romantic love she sets her cap at him. However, when he sees that his work has
been transformed into a vulgar comedy the composer despairs once more.
Opera Ariadne, the daughter of King Minos of Crete,
is unable to find relief from her woes. Her beloved Theseus has abandoned her on
a barren island. Her laments are heard only by the woodland and water
nymphs Dryad and Naiad and the mountain nymph Echo. At this point
Zerbinetta comes onstage with her comedians and turns the production upside
down; forgetting all about the plot, all begin to improvise. Zerbinetta
tells Ariadne the story of her own love and says that the pain over
a lost love is always replaced by the thrill of a new one.
Ariadne, however, makes no response. She continues to wait for Hermes,
the herald of death. Suddenly the nymphs notice the young god
Bacchus, who has just escaped unharmed from the clutches of
the sorceress Circe who attempted to transform him into a beast.
Ariadne is convinced that she is face to face with the long-awaited god
of death, while Bacchus, initially thinking her to be another sorceress, falls
passionately in love with her. His love helps Ariadne to forget her grief
and gain happiness once more. Derek Weber
Schedule for Richard Strauss "Ariadne auf Naxos" (one act opera with prologue). Concert performance 2022
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