Ariadne: Xeniya Grigorieva
Zerbinetta: Kristina Gontsa
The Composer: Daria Rositskaya
Bacchus: Sergei Skorokhodov
The Major Domo (spoken role): Alexander Oleshko
World premiere: 25 October 1912, Staatsoper Stuttgart (first version); 4 October 1916, Vienna State Opera (second version)
Premiere at the Mariinsky Theatre: 2 February 2004
Premiere of this production: 27 June 2024
Running time 2 hours 35 minutes
The performance has one interval
Ariadne auf Naxos is an evolutionary creation that has undergone several transformations. Initially conceived as a charming musical homage to director Max Reinhardt, who brilliantly staged the previous opera by Strauss and Hofmannsthal, Der Rosenkavalier, it initially served as the finale in a lengthy dramatic piece before returning to a purely musical format, transforming into an opera with a prologue. In its original version Ariadne replaced a Turkish divertissement in a revised comedy by Molière, Le Bourgeois gentilhomme. The theatrical experiment was met with lukewarm reception from the audience, but Richard Strauss remained hopeful until his last days that spectators would eventually appreciate the original idea of an opera-drama hybrid. “I am far more confident about the future of our Ariadne than its present,” the composer wrote to his collaborator, asking him not to reveal that they were working on a second edition of the opera, so theatres would not refuse to stage the existing one. However, for most theatres, the first Ariadne was simply too challenging as it required two high-calibre troupes: an opera and a drama company. Even today audiences generally prefer either to attend a theatre of comedy or an opera, not a blend of both.
Originally, the performance was defined as “a play by Hugo von Hofmannsthal with music by Richard Strauss”. Now we know it as Ariadne auf Naxos by Richard Strauss with a libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. This is not just a swapping of components; these two formulations result in entirely different entities.
Ariadne auf Naxos is indeed a true opera, but in its final form it encapsulates the entire history of its authors’ conceptual transformations. Hofmannsthal once criticised Strauss for his inclination towards lighter genres, claiming that “the vulgar in him rises like groundwater”, yet he insisted that the comedic heroine Zerbinetta should not disappear towards the end but should sing a few phrases at the curtain. Strauss fulfilled this request by giving Zerbinetta a whispered vocal line, unwilling to disrupt the elevated atmosphere of the final duet between the main characters – Ariadne and Bacchus. Initially skeptical about the concept of this apotheotic duet, Strauss later became enthralled, motivated less by the text and more by his librettist’s explanations.
These and other creative dilemmas require a coherent justification on stage. This is the primary challenge for directors, as the sparkling, enchanting and captivating music of the brilliant composer contrasts with the sometimes absurdist words of the eminent writer. Our goal is to tell a compelling story that honors the authors’ intentions. We aim to balance high sentiments and mundane partner changes, merge comedic circumstances with tragic pathos, and bring together characters from opera seria and commedia dell’arte in a single narrative. This is the task our production team endeavored to accomplish to inspire the singers and delight the audience. Sergey Novikov, stage director
The highlighting of performances by age represents recommendations.
This highlighting is being used in accordance with Federal Law N436-FZ dated 29 December 2010 (edition dated 1 May 2019) "On the protection of children from information that may be harmful to their health"