The birth of the opera ‘Ariadne on Naxos,’ which remains a delicacy for every connoisseur, was a rather difficult, trying process. Initially, the second half of the composition was performed as a part of Molière’s comedy ‘Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme’ at the Stuttgarter Hoftheater in 1912, but this combination proved too excessive, and the idea was ultimately abandoned: ‘Audiences who go to see a play do not want to hear an opera, and vice versa,’ Strauss wrote in clever recognition of the problem. The opera did not become a worldwide smash hit until a melancholic, ironic version was developed in 1916 at Vienna’s Hofoper under the direction of Franz Schalk.

In Richard Strauss’ unique version of the story of Ariadne, who has been ignominiously abandoned on a barren, rocky island, the sublime world of antiquity comes face to face with the humorous disposition of Zerbinetta’s comedy troupe, who advise Ariadne to stop taking life so seriously. The differing musical spheres are masterfully linked, the humor is subtle and clever, and the orchestration is exquisite. With ‘Ariadne on Naxos,’ Strauss laid the foundation for the playfulness of the coming period of Neoclassicism, which provided the strongest competition to musical theatre in the wake of Richard Wagner.

Director, set designer and lighting artist Philippe Arlaud has directed at such famous opera houses as the Opéra de Paris, the Staatsoper in Vienna, the Scala in Milan, the Grand Théâtre in Geneva and the Deutsche Oper in Berlin as well as at the festivals Bayreuther Festspiele and Bregenzer Festspiele. His production of ‘Ariadne on Naxos’ is a transfer from the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden. Under the musical direction of Zsolt Hamar, the production features such great talents as Tatiana Plotnikova (Ariadne), Emma Pearson (Zerbinetta) and Merit Ostermann (the composer).