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Take an in-depth look at Ariadne auf Naxos with the following articles and essays.
by Neil Armfield
Richard Strauss and Hugo von Hofmannsthal were endlessly fascinated by art – its beauty, the contradictions of its practice, the ironies of its production in human society. Most of all, they were drawn to the power of art to transform the mundane or momentary into something eternal: born of human clay, through its own mystery of form, art enables us to touch the divine. And nowhere do they explore these contradictions more rigorously nor more playfully than in Ariadne auf Naxos.
Strauss had completed the full score for Der Rosenkavalier in September 1910 and was at once eager for more work.
In a letter dated March 20, 1911 his librettist, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, suggested an idea for a new piece: “a 30-minute opera for small chamber orchestra . . . called Ariadne auf Naxos . . . combining heroic mythological figures in 18th-century costume” with characters from the commedia dell’arte.
As was appropriate for a work inspired by theatrical and operatic traditions of the past, Strauss scored Ariadne for a reduced "period" orchestra of only 37 players, far fewer than was normal in 1912 and certainly much smaller than he had used for Salome, Elektra and Der Rosenkavalier.
Director Neil Armfield admits that it took him a long time to get to appreciate Ariadne auf Naxos and to find the emotional core beneath its layers of comedy and irony.
A scene from the Canadian Opera Company production of Ariadne auf Naxos. Photo Credit: © 2011 Michael Cooper