Ariadna na Naxos

For over a century, directors staging Ariadne on Naxos have delighted in teasing their audiences. Richard Strauss’s opera is a story about us—about how we try to reconcile reason with feeling, and art with everyday chaos. Born of the composer’s collaboration with the acclaimed dramatist and poet Hugo von Hofmannsthal, it tells of the interweaving of different worlds: melancholy and laughter, despair and immortality, ideas and reality. It is also a colourful artistic patchwork whose neatly stitched parts form a meditation on the value of different theatrical genres and on the artist’s role in art.

Masterfully blending gravity with humour, the plot unfolds in two parts: a Prologue and the Opera proper.

The Prologue shows preparations for an evening of entertainment at the residence of a wealthy patron who has commissioned two works for his guests: a serious opera about the mythic Ariadne and a comic opera featuring a troupe of travelling players. Owing to time constraints, the patron dictates that both pieces must be performed simultaneously. The artists, indignant at first, are forced to compromise and find their bearings in this absurd new situation.
The second part takes us to the mythical island of Naxos, where the title character Ariadna grieves after her parting from Theseus. The despairing daughter of the King of Crete is consoled by the comedians and by the god Bacchus himself. Will we be treated, once again, to a happy ending in the old, beloved style?

 
The Battle for Ariadne

Ariadne an Naxos was the third opera created by the composer–literary duo Richard Strauss and Hugo von Hofmannsthal. It was originally conceived as part of a staging of Le Bourgeois gentilhomme (premiered on 25 October 1912 at the Hoftheater in Stuttgart). At first Strauss regarded his contribution as something of a trifle—unlike Hofmannsthal, who from the outset saw great potential in it. Only an exchange of letters between the two persuaded Strauss to approach the work with greater enthusiasm.
Despite its considerable success, the production of which Ariadne formed a part was soon withdrawn from the repertoire. Hofmannsthal, who had quite simply fallen in love with Strauss’s score, could not let it go. He eventually persuaded the composer to give the piece a second life and rework it as a standalone stage work. The world premiere at the Vienna Hofoper (October 4th 1916) was a resounding success, securing the opera a permanent place in the international repertoire.

 
Is Ariadne on Naxos—a co-production by Krakow Opera, the Israeli Opera (Tel Aviv) and Oper Dortmund—yet another take on the age-old question: to have or to be? It’s worth entering the game and deciding for yourself.