5 Things to Know About ARIADNE AUF NAXOS

Backstage preparations turn to mayhem when it is announced that two separate productions—of an opera and a comic play—are now to be performed at the same time! In the culminating act, both groups of artists work together to bring Ariadne’s tale of love, betrayal, and divine rescue to life.

Learn more about this 20th-century opera that blurs the line between high art and playful chaos before joining us for director Paul Curran’s dazzling new production!

More opera, please

Hugo von Hofmannsthal’s libretto was originally conceived as an epilogue to his adaptation of Molière’s play Le Bourgeois gentilhomme. However, this version proved unpopular with audiences who preferred not having to sit through the play in order to hear the opera at the end. A revised version, in which composer Richard Strauss replaced the play with a musical prologue, premiered in Vienna in 1916, and performances across Europe soon followed.

Greek myth, but make it comedy

The myth of Ariadne—who was abandoned by Theseus after helping him escape the Labyrinth—had appealed to composers including Monteverdi, Handel, and Massenet. But Hugo von Hofmannsthal and Richard Strauss (whose collaborations include Elektra, Der Rosenkavalier, and Die Frau ohne Schatten) were the first to tackle the story from an ironic perspective, combining opera seria (heroic opera) with commedia dell’arte (improvised Italian comedy). In their version, an opera company and a commedia dell’arte troupe led by the clever but flighty Zerbinetta must collaborate to tell Ariadne’s story.

Something for everyone

The opera’s standout musical moments range from soaring lines for Ariadne, lively ensemble numbers for the comedians, and showstopping coloratura moments for Zerbinetta. Listen out for “Grossmächtige Prinzessin” (“Great and Mighty Princess”), a notoriously difficult aria featuring a high top E, in which Zerbinetta urges Ariadne to find a new lover; “Es gibt ein Reich” (“There Is a Realm”), a poignant aria in which Ariadne sings of the purity of death; as well as the final duet between Ariadne and Bacchus, featuring lush orchestration intended to evoke the transformative power of love.

Going in with a bang

Strauss’s use of musical conventions echoes Baroque and Classical opera, but the music of Ariadne auf Naxos also draws heavily on richer 20th-century orchestral language. Its unusual instrumentation includes a double woodwind section and hefty percussion (including timpani, glockenspiel, tambourine, triangle, snare drum, cymbals, and bass drum, as well as harmonium, celesta and piano), with significantly reduced brass and strings. 

Embrace the chaos

In this production, the metafictional performance of the opera Ariadne auf Naxos takes place as entertainment in a grand Viennese villa, with “the play within a play” set in a miniature Baroque theatre. Described by Opera Wire as “enlightening and exalting entertainment” and  “an evening to remember and cherish,” this touching collision of tragedy and comedy offers a heartfelt tribute to the chaos of making art.

Ariadne auf Naxos appears at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts from February 4 - 20, 2027.

Photo Credits:

• A scene from the Teatro Malibran's production of Ariadne auf Naxos. Photo: Michele Crosera.
• Cover to a vocal score of Ariadne auf Naxos. A. Fürstner, Berlin.
• • Painting of Bacchus and Ariadne (1550-1553). Painted by Titian.
• Portrait of Richard Strauss. Photo: Tucker Collection, New York Public Library Archives.
• A scene from the Teatro Malibran's production of Ariadne auf Naxos. Photo: Michele Crosera.