Free Opera: Ariadne auf Naxos from Royal Swedish Opera

After  Elektra and Der Rosenkavalier, the composer Richard Strauss and the librettist Hugo von Hofmannsthal were opera’s foremost duo in the first decades of the 20th century. They chose to follow up the two successes with a challenging experiment: an opera about an opera and a story about artistic creation. Ariadne auf Naxos is metafiction in its most enjoyable form, an opera that makes the audience aware of its own role in an entertaining way. It is a comic opera where spoken theatre is mixed with song. Strauss’ shimmeringly melodious and extravagantly orchestrated music is here performed under the baton of the Royal Swedish Opera Music Director Alan Gilbert and with Christina Nilsson, Johanna Rudström, Sofie Asplund, Michael Weinius and the actor Andreas T. Olsson in the leading roles.

The Plot: The composer is stressed. His little opera ensemble is about to perform Ariadne auf Naxos, a grandiose opera of his own making, at the home of a wealthy man. But the very same evening a troupe of players led by the colourful Zerbinetta will also perform, and the two ensembles fight over who is to go first. The threat of cuts is driving the earnest composer to near breakdown. This is the comic prologue to the opera about Ariadne that the audience will be attending after the intermission.  And here is the plot of The Opera:

The king’s daughter, Ariadne, lies in front of a cave on a desert island in deepest despair. She has been abandoned by her lover, the hero Theseus. Three nymphs – Naiad, Dryad and Echo – have lulled the unfortunate woman to rest briefly with their song. It seems to Ariadne that death is the only way to escape her grief.

At this moment the commedia dell’arte company appears and try to comfort the princess in her distress.

Zerbinetta talks to Ariadne about her outlook on life, love especially, but there is no response. The players compete for Zerbinetta’s attention, and Harlequin wins. The nymphs rush in to announce the arrival of the god Bacchus. He has just escaped the tricks of the sorceress Circe and is now steering his ship towards Naxos.

As if in a trance, Ariadne goes to meet him, certain that he is Hermes, the gods’ messenger, who will guide her to the realm of death. She collapses ecstatically into his arms, but instead of death, she encounters life and love.