Ariadne Auf Naxos: a Study in Transformation Through Contrast and Coalescence

Ariadne auf Naxos: A Study in Transformation through Contrast and Coalescence By Copyright 2015 Etta Fung Submitted to the graduate degree program in Vocal Performance and the Graduate Faculty of the University of Kansas in partial fulﬁllment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts. ________________________________ Chairperson Julia Broxholm ________________________________ Paul Laird ________________________________ David Alan Street ________________________________ Joyce Castle ________________________________ Michelle Heffner Hayes Date Defended: 5/4/2015 i The Thesis Committee for Etta Fung certifies that this is the approved version of the following thesis: Ariadne auf Naxos: A Study in Transformation through Contrast and Coalescence _______________________________ Chairperson Julia Broxholm Date approved: 5/13/15 ii Abstract Ariadne auf Naxos, by composer Richard Strauss and librettist Hugo von Hofmannsthal, concerns the simultaneous performance of a tragedy and a comedy at a rich man’s house in Vienna, and the conflicts that arise between the two groups. The primary focus of this paper is the character Zerbinetta, a coloratura soprano who is the main performer in the commedia dell’arte troupe. Following consideration of the opera’s historical background, the first segment of this paper examines Zerbinetta’s duet with the young Composer starting from “Nein Herr, so kommt es nicht…” in the Prologue, which reveals her coquettish yet complex character. The second section offers a detailed description of her twelve-minute aria “Großmächtige Prinzessin” in the opera, exploring the show’s various levels of satire. The last segment is an investigation of the differing perspectives of the performers and the audience during Zerbinetta’s tour de force. The basis for this study is the second version of Ariadne auf Naxos, which premiered in 1916. iii Compositional background of Ariadne of Naxos Ariadne auf Naxos was written by German composer Richard Strauss with a libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. It was originally composed as a divertissement for Hofmannsthal’s adaptation of Molière’s play Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme. The premiere of the opera in 1912 was unsuccessful because the audience who were more interested in the opera had to wait for the play to end. The play and the opera together were six hours in length, obviously a huge demand on the audience. The play-going public had no interest in the opera and the opera-goers did not wish to see the play.1 The first version of Ariadne was quite lengthy, and required a significant number of actors aside from the vocalists, which made it expensive to produce. Hofmannsthal proposed that Strauss write a second version with a prologue explaining why commedia dell’arte elements are introduced into the tragedy of Ariadne. The second version of the opera premiered in 1916 in Vienna. Although the second version was not received with enthusiasm at the time, it remains as the version performed today and will be the focus of this paper. Central Idea Ariadne auf Naxos is a masterpiece that builds on contrasts to achieve a greater unity, which was librettist Hofmannsthal’s favorite technique. Ariadne is an opera-within-an opera. It provides a setting in which a tragedy and a comedy are performed at the same time, leading to a variety of conflicts. Strauss showed little interest when Hofmannsthal first proposed to write 1Norman Del Mar, Richard Strauss: A Critical Commentary on His Life and Works, Volume II (London: Barrie and Rockliff. 1969), 9 !1 Ariadne, but started to gain interest after Hofmannsthal’s suggestion of striking a contrast between Zerbinetta and Ariadne in order to bring the two different characters together. Below is an excerpt of a letter from Hofmannsthal to Strauss: …they summon the clever soubrette (Zerbinetta); they tell her the plot of the heroic opera, explain to her the character of Ariadne, and set her the task of working herself and her companions as best she may into this opera as an intermezzo, without causing undue disturbance. Zerbinetta at once grasps the salient point: to her way of thinking a character like Ariadne must be either a hypocrite or a fool, and she promises to intervene in the action to the best of her ability, but with discretion. This offers us the opportunity of stating quite plainly, under the cover of a joke, the symbolic meaning of the antithesis between the two women. Does this appeal to you?2 Originally, Hofmannsthal intended to focus the opera on the classical heroine Ariadne,3 the tragic and noble character, but Strauss turned it around and focused on Zerbinetta instead, making her into a more interesting character. Strauss’s early pre-sketches of Ariadne of Naxos show that he greatly favored the coloratura soprano: As seen in Figure 1, all the numbers that involve Zerbinetta were laid out in detail whilst others were only briefly described. 2Donald G. Daviau and George J Buelow, The Ariadne auf Naxos of Hugo von Hofmannsthal and Richard Straus (Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1975), 45 3Forsyth,133. !2 Figure 14 Strauss’s early sketch of some ideas for operatic numbers in Ariadne auf Naxos By putting a spotlight on Zerbinetta, Strauss fully exploits the potential of comedic 4Forsyth, 131-32. !3 writing and pokes fun at not only operatic traditions but also the execution of dramatic elements in operas, while also providing insight into the performer’s perspectives. Important scholars who have addressed these aspects of work include David B. Greene,5 Donald G. Daviau and George J. Buelow,6 Bryan Gilliam,7 and Scott Warfield.8 Strauss and Hofmannsthal use clever techniques such as juxaposition and parody to bring the two elements together seamlessly. The duo manages to conceive a masterpiece that combines seriousness and parody, forming a perfect contrast between Ariadne’s opera company and Zerbinetta’s burlesque troupe. Vorspiel The Prologue was composed for the second version of the opera. Two performing groups, an opera company and a commedia dell’arte troupe, arrive at the house of the richest man in Vienna to provide an evening’s entertainment. The two groups show their disdain for each other’s art, claiming themselves to be superior. To their shocking discovery, shortly before the performances, the rich man has requested for the comedy and tragedy to perform at the same time so that the fireworks can start at nine o’clock. The young Composer, a role in Ariadne auf Naxos, is distraught and mourns that his masterpiece will be ruined by farce. Zerbinetta comforts the 5David B. Greene, Listening to Strauss Operas (Amsterdam: Gordon and Breach, 1991). 6Daviau, and Buelow. 7Bryan Gilliam. 2003. “Ariadne, Daphne and the Problem of Verwandlung.” Cambridge Opera Journal. Vol. 15 [January] [accessed 16 February 2015] 8Scott Warfield. 1993. Review of Listening to Strauss Opera’s: The Audience’s Multiple Stand- points by David B. Greene. Music Library Association. Vol. 49, no. 3 [March] [accessed 15 Feb- ruary 2015] !4 Composer and advises him not to take himself so seriously. When the Composer rebukes her, Zerbinetta shows him that she is more than an entertainer and understands greater depths of humanity. The Prologue serves an important function. First of all, it marks the theme of the opera: the meeting of two contrasting musical forms. By setting the scene at the rich man’s house with bizarre requests concerning the form of the performances, Strauss and Hofmannsthal created a platform for the exchange of two starkly different styles of music. On the other hand, the setting reflects on real-life production difficulties in an exaggerated manner. It provokes the audience to think from the producer’s and performer’s perspectives,9 and highlights the conflicts between the opera company and commedia dell’arte group with the climax being the duet between the Composer and Zerbinetta, which will be the first performance excerpt of this recital. This is the first point of unity between the idealist and the comedian and they reach an understanding. The Composer is a young man who takes his music extremely seriously. He talks about deep subjects of humanity such as the suffering and glory of a noble woman waiting for her one true love, and dismisses any sort of comic entertainment as he believes them to contain little substance, and that they are performed solely to get a good laugh out of the audience. He also finds performers of comic characters to be shallow, and that they are incapable of understanding the great sufferings of humanity. Upon the news of having to perform with Zerbinetta’s troupe at the same time, he mourns the ruination of his great music. Any addition of comic relief in his opera he considers a catastrophe because it belittles his work. Zerbinetta’s troupe, on the other hand, responds to the situation quite well. After all, 9Greene,157. !5 improvisation is their trade, and they are accustomed to adapting to all kinds of circumstances. They immediately come up with plots and possibilities of insinuating themselves into the show. The layout of the characters is exceptionally clever. The contrast is double-sided: it not only exists among the two performing groups but also between the Composer and Zerbinetta themselves. The Composer is a serious figure, but he takes himself so seriously that he becomes a caricature.10 Zerbinetta seems to be a mere flirt, but she reveals insights into womanhood that the Composer greatly values. In the early portions of the duet between the Composer and Zerbinetta, the Composer dwells on his operatic heroine Ariadne: she is such a noble lady that if she does not find her lover she will face the only option of death. The Composer’s melodies are lyric, lush, and declamatory with long phrases.

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