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Backstage of a private theatre in a mansion, the Music Master protests to the Majordomo because he has learned that the opera, “Ariadne on Naxos,” newly composed for performance at a soirée at the mansion that evening, will be followed by a “vulgar” performance by a troupe of comedians and a fireworks display. He complains that the Composer (the Music Master’s protégé) will be deeply offended by this arrangement. Haughtily, the Majordomo tells him that since his employer, the richest man in Vienna, is paying for the production, his instructions cannot be altered. The Majordomo exits.
The Composer then enters and soon encounters Zerbinetta, the leading lady of the comic troupe that is to mount The Fickle Zerbinetta and her Lovers.
As the Music Master predicted, the Composer is furious when he learns of the decision to present a comic work following his own serious opera. The Prima Donna, who is to appear as Ariadne in Ariadne on Naxos enters and wastes no time in exhibiting her disdain for Zerbinetta and her troupe of comedians. Zerbinetta responds with an equally contemptuous statement that the “boring” serious opera will spoil the evening.
The Majordomo returns to announce a change in plans, which will subject the Composer’s opera to further indignities: in order to avoid any delay to the fireworks display, Ariadne on Naxos and The Fickle Zerbinetta must somehow be performed simultaneously! The Composer is horrified, but the Dancing Master from the comic troupe suggests that the performance will work out well because his players are good at improvising. Cuts are made to the music of Ariadne on Naxos, and Zerbinetta decides that she and her companions will do what they can to enliven the piece. Zerbinetta then charms the Composer into reluctantly accepting this arrangement.
The stage is set for the opera Ariadne on Naxos.
On the deserted island of Naxos, the anguished Ariadne, recalling how she was abandoned by the untrue Theseus, prays for death. Zerbinetta and the other comedians enter and attempt to console Ariadne with singing and dancing. Ariadne retreats into a cave in the rocks, and the comedians flirt with Zerbinetta. After this interlude, the opera continues, and the god Bacchus enters.
For a moment, Ariadne mistakes him for her Theseus, but regaining her senses, she greets Bacchus as a god of peace. Her grief is transformed, and, with Bacchus, she chooses life over death. Zerbinetta re-enters to knowing remark, “When the new god approaches, we surrender without a word.”
A scene from the Canadian Opera Company production of Ariadne auf Naxos. Photo Credit: © 2011 Michael Cooper