munkus's Full Review: R. Strauss: Ariadne auf Naxos / Karajan, Schwarzko...
Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos came after he was flushed with success (and funds) from his masterpiece Der Rosenkavalier. Together with Hofmannsthal, he hunted for his next project. Two of the three possibilities (the third would become a separate opera in its own right in a few years) were solved at once. As a personal favour, he wanted to write some incidental music for a Moliere play as a thank-you to the producer of Rosenkavalier. He also wanted to write a short farce in which the very serious myth of Ariadne would be invaded by commedia dell'arte characters. The two combined- the lead character in the Moliere would call for some entertainment and the Ariadne spoof would begin. It was a dire failure, though people tried to be respectful to the composer and librettist. Those who wanted opera had to sit through the Moliere, those who wanted Moliere then had to sit through an opera. But Strauss and Hoff knew they were doomed with this one, so they rescued it into its surviving form today, and premiered it, with a much better reception, four years later.
The opera is in two parts, as befits its strange conception. In the Prologue, it is backstage at some rich dude's house where an event is about to happen. The Music Director (baritone) is worried that some clowns are going to intrude on his performance and worries to the Major-Domo (inexplicably, a speaker- why?, it just makes the prologue more annoying than it already is). Unfortunately, the Domo says to the MD that this is true, but the opera will be played first then the clowns will do their farce after. But it all must be wrapped up by 9pm as we have scheduled some fireworks. The Composer (sung by a mezzo soprano- again, why?- if Strauss had wanted a male composer, why not a tenor- if he had wanted a female composer, why not a female character?) frets and throws his weight around. The first clown, Zerbinetta (very coloratura soprano indeed) appears and the Composer falls in lust with her. Zerbinetta and the Prima Donna (soprano) have a catfight. The Domo comes back and announces that due to time constraints, both the farce and the opera will have to be performed simultaneously. The Ballet Master (tenor- and such a pointless character- why isn't this bit done by the Music Director?) tries to calm the distraught Composer, who then sings the one tune in the whole forty-five minutes to date. It may sound somewhat witty and silly in text, but it is a very slow forty five minutes onstage.
However, the reward for this feat of endurance is we then get the Opera proper, a cave on the island of Naxos. Ariadne! cry the Dryad and a Naiad (and -adne, -adne, -adne goes an Echo). Ariadne (the Prima Donna from the Prologue) wakes up and is a bit bonkers with grief over her lost love Theseus and wishes to die. Harlequin (baritone), one of the clowns, rouses up the clowns and they sing a little song to try and cheer her up. We then waste a bit of time with Zerbinetta asking Harlequin if he's in love with Ariadne (which he is, but this is never referred to again for the rest of the night). Ariadne longs for death some more. The clowns come out and do a bit of a jolly Bavarian polka schtick at which point Zerbinetta tells them to nick off, and let her talk to Ariadne woman to woman.
She does this for precisely eleven minutes, and almost as many high E's. This is somewhat annoying, as her message can be summarised as thus- 'men are pricks, just forget them and move on to the next one'. Ariadne is not amused. The clowns tell Zerb that her plan was foiled, then they have another little dance before Zerb and Harl go off and bonk in the bushes (then presumably Zerb goes to Naples to sort out those Cosi girls).
The Nymphs meanwhile (-while, -while, -while, sings Echo) are excited about the hunk of a man who just arrived. This is Bacchus (tenor) who falls in love with Ariadne on sight after a little bit of mistaken-identity confusion (more time-wasting, but at least some nice music this time). Things get a bit metaphorical here, as everything else dissolves and leaves just Bacchus and Ariadne in a romantic clinch over glorious shimmering music. All are happy. Is Ariadne dead? Has she gone to Olympus or Hades? Does anyone know? Does anyone even care?
Dramatically, this is a dire work. Nothing much happens, and it is unbalanced to boot. After the silliness of the Prologue, Ariadne is waiting for Hermes to take her Hades. He doesn't show, but instead we get Bacchus and they fall in love. End show. You can almost see Strauss and Hofmannsthal thinking how hilarious it would be liven things up with the arrival of Zerbinetta & Co, but even this fails horribly. Their purpose in the drama is so slight they may as well not even be there- Ariadne hates them, Zerbinetta doesn't seduce anyone at all and so forth.
Musically though, it is some of Strauss' greatest music, and the first Strauss I've ever really liked from his operatic years (as fond as I am of the chest-thumping symphonic tone poems). The reward for sitting through the dreary Prologue is the Composer's glorious hymn to St Cecilia (the patron saint of music) that closes the section, Sein wir wieder gut. After a too-long overture to the Opera there is a charming and sublime trio for a Naiad, a Dryad and an Echo (who occasionally echos either these two or Ariadne herself over the next hour). Up until the arrival of Bacchus things are pleasant enough, with the orchestra being whimsical, melancholic and shimmery with aplomb whenever it is required to do so. However when the Ariadne/Bacchus love duet begins, and carries us through to the end of the work, there is some of Strauss' most powerfully passionate music.
Special mention needs to be made of Zerbinetta's long eleven minute aria- generally considered the most difficult coloratura aria in the entire opera repertoire (it knocks Mozart's Queen of the Night for six). Dramatically, it serves absolutely no purpose whatsoever except its Strauss and his soprano showing what they can do. It's a bit like a throwback to opera seria, where the sole point of an aria is to show off the singer with little concern about the point in the drama where it falls, only this was written over a hundred years after opera was completely reformed by Gluck and Mozart, to say nothing of Verdi and Wagner. That said, it's like a neat parlour trick for an accomplished soprano, though it could be over much sooner than it is.
What really elevates it though is Strauss' use of the orchestra. This had always been a forte of his, quite literally, as he used monstrously sized orchestras with intricate detail in the scoring. Here, he shrinks it down to just over thirty players. For today's composers, this is still a large ensemble, but for Strauss it was like trying to clean your teeth with three bristles of a toothbrush. Yet it works- sublimely- with some wonderful woodwind parts which are often treated as more solo singers in their own right.
This recording is an EMI Classics remastering of a 1955 performance conducted by Herbert von Karajan. Elisabeth Schwarzkopf is, to no one's surprise, divine as the Prima Donna/Ariadne, to the point it almost feels as if it was written for her. Rudolf Schock handles Bacchus' very high tenor line with seeming ease, as this is treachorous ground and many tenors strain and hence the sound is restricted, however Schock's voice sounds pleasingly full right through. Irmgard Seefried managed to do something with the Composer, no easy feat, and then promptly disappears after the Prologue. What is bizarre about Seefried is she seemed to have chosen this slight role as her signature Strauss role, to the point that she was invited to perform it 1944 to honour Strauss' 80th birthday. Zerbinetta is tackled by Rita Streich, who has a small but tinkly voice that would be lost in big theatres but is wonderful on record, and comes through with a minx-like characterisation.
The orchestra is drawn from the Philharmonia Orchestra and they handle the sometimes difficult parts easily, but then again I would too if I had von Karajan staring over the podium at me.
This is a hard one then. Musically (the Opera at least), is absolutely sumptuous however dramatically it's all a bit of a snore. So I suppose I recommend a CD, in German, because then you can just luxuriate in the music without having to know what is (or more accurately, isn't) going on.
Vital Stats
Original Language Title: Ariadne auf Naxos
Common Title: Ariadne auf Naxos (often referred to simply as Ariadne)
Music: R Strauss (1864-1949)- his sixth.
Libretto: Hugo Hofmannsthal
Premiere: Vienna, 4 October 1916 (version I was in Stuttgart, almost exactly four years earlier)
Sung In: German. It is however quite common for the Prologue to be done in the language of the audience, as it helps to get it over with quicker.
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