Deborah Voigt (Ariadne/Prima Donna), Natalie Dessay (Zerbinetta), Anne Sofie von Otter (Der Komponist), Ben Heppner (Bacchus), Stephan Genz (Harlekin), Sami Luttinen (Truffaldin), Christoph Genz (Brighella), Ian Thompson (Scaramuchio), Christiane Hossfeld (Najade), Angela Liebold (Dryade), Eva Kirchner (Echo), Romauld Pekny (Haushofmeister)
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Initially designed to be a play with music, it quickly became apparent to Strauss and his librettist Hugo von Hofmannsthal that what was intended as an after-dinner entertainment would require an opera company to perform it. So, in 1916, a 30-minute ‘divertissement’ became a 90-minute opera, with a newly composed prologue. Set in the house of ‘the richest man in Vienna’, it concerns the struggles of a young composer to arrange a performance of his new opera for the guests his master has invited to the house.
His opera is about Ariadne on the island of Naxos, and all the backstage chaos and bitching and scratching among performers and the domestic staff is wonderfully portrayed by Strauss. The mutual hostility between the Major-Domo and the composer is exquisite. The prologue is followed by the opera proper, and the marvel of the orchestration is especially notable – with just 36 players playing some of Strauss’s most sumptuous music.
‘Any opera house in the world would think themselves fortunate to assemble this cast … A landmark in the history of the gramophone … this really does triumph over them all.’ Gramophone
Strauss (R): Ariadne Auf Naxos - Prologue: Orchestral Introduction
Strauss (R): Ariadne Auf Naxos - Prologue: Mein Herr Haushofmeister!
Strauss (R): Ariadne Auf Naxos - Prologue: Du Allmächtiger Gott! O Du Mein Zitterndes Herz!
Strauss (R): Ariadne Auf Naxos - Prologue: Hast Ein Stückerl Notenpapier?
Strauss (R): Ariadne Auf Naxos - Prologue: Ist Schon Geschehn. Wir Sind Bereit
Strauss (R): Ariadne Auf Naxos - Prologue: Nein, Herr, So Kommt Es Nicht
Strauss (R): Ariadne Auf Naxos - Prologue: Ein Augenblick Ist Wenig, Ein Blick Ist Viel
Strauss (R): Ariadne Auf Naxos - Prologue: Seien Wir Wieder Gut
Strauss (R): Ariadne Auf Naxos - Act 1: Ouverture
Strauss (R): Ariadne Auf Naxos - Act 1: Schläft Sie?
Strauss (R): Ariadne Auf Naxos - Act 1: Wo War Ich? Tot?
Strauss (R): Ariadne Auf Naxos - Act 1: Ein Schönes War: Hiess Theseus
Strauss (R): Ariadne Auf Naxos - Prologue: Orchestral Introduction