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Home , Albert Dohmen, Ariadne auf Naxos, Der Rosenkavalier, Elektra (opera), Lotte Lehmann, Natalie Dessay

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Richard Strauss 1864–1949 and offers familiar ‘comfort’. The couple spars verbally until the other three ‘lovers’ reappear and, in a complex pantomime, all four men variously lay siege to her. Ariadne auf Eventually she runs off with Harlekin, to the others’ dismay. in one act with a prologue · : Najade, Dryade and rush on to announce the arrival of and detail his divine ancestry, not to mention his recent involvement with the sorceress . Ariadne Prima Donna/Ariadne ...... emerges from her grotto to hear Bacchus’ offstage railing against Circe, whom he is Zerbinetta...... evidently expecting to re-encounter. Ariadne, equally, is convinced that she is hearing Composer...... the longed-for messenger of death, and welcomes him when he finally enters. In a long, /Bacchus...... never-resolved conflict of cross-purposes and confused identities, Bacchus is Major-Domo...... ROMUALD PEKNY overwhelmed by Ariadne’s beauty, even though he thinks she is another sorceress, Music Master...... ALBERT DOHMEN whilst she is concerned only with the details of her presumably imminent death- Officer...... KLAUS FLORIAN VOGT transformation. Aflame with passion, Bacchus will hear no more of dying: he is, after Dancing Master ...... MICHAEL HOWARD all, a god, and the heavens themselves will die before he will let anything happen to her. Wig-Maker...... MATTHIAS HENNEBERG But as the sky fills with stars, she is still as certain that she is going to her death with Lackey...... JÜRGEN COMMICHAU him, as he is that he is bewitched by her. Najade...... CHRISTIANE HOSSFELD The scene slowly changes, and Ariadne’s cave disappears, symbolising Dryade...... ANGELA LIEBOLD transformation. As the lovers are increasingly hidden from sight by a descending Echo ...... EVA KIRCHNER canopy, Zerbinetta appears from the wings with her own interpretation of events: men Scaramuccio...... IAN THOMPSON turn up like gods and women fall for it. Harlekin...... STEPHAN GENZ © Stephen Jay-Taylor, 2009 Truffaldino ...... SAMI LUTTINEN Brighella ...... Cover image: Evelyn DeMorgan: Ariadne in Naxos, 1877 Photo: © The De Morgan Centre, London/The Bridgeman Art Library

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completely disarms the susceptible boy. As the Music Master tells everyone to take their Compact Disc 1 71’12 places onstage, the Composer is moved to an impassioned outburst praising music as the ‘holiest’ art of all. But his mood is shattered by a shrill whistle from Zerbinetta Prologue summoning her troupe, and he is once again plunged into dejection. 1 Overture () 2’19 2 Mein Herr Haushofmeister! 5’56 THE OPERA (Music Master/Major-Domo/Lackey/Officer/Composer) A grotto on the island of Naxos. 3 Du allmächtiger Gott! (Composer/Tenor/Wig-Maker/Zerbinetta/ 6’12 Prima Donna/Music Master/Dancing Master) After an overture depicting Ariadne’s emotional torment, the curtain rises on her cave 4 Hast ein Stückerl Notenpapier? (Composer/Zerbinetta/ 3’43 watched over by three – Najade, Dryade and Echo – who remark on her Prima Donna/Dancing Master/Lackey) inconsolability. Ariadne stirs, lamenting her fate and detested life, whilst Zerbinetta and 5 Ist schon geschehn. Wir sind bereit (Music Master/Major-Domo/ 8’25 company consider how hard it will be to cheer her up. Ignoring them completely, Prima Donna/Dancing Master/Tenor/Zerbinetta/Composer) Ariadne sings of the perfect union she once shared with , who has now 6 Nein, Herr, so kommt es nicht 5’18 peremptorily abandoned her, and how she longs only for the blessed relief that death (Composer/Zerbinetta/Music Master) itself will bring. Zerbinetta instructs Harlekin to offer comfort, but there is no response 7 Ein Augenblick ist wenig 5’06 from Ariadne, and the commedia troupe is left to muse on their thankless task. Ariadne (Zerbinetta/Composer/Music Master/Prima Donna) reflects on the desirability of death, looks forward to greeting , its messenger, 8 Sei’n wir wieder gut…Musik ist eine heilige Kunst 3’02 and the process of readying herself. (Composer/Music Master) The four male characters of Zerbinetta’s troupe – Harlekin, Scaramuccio, Truffaldin and Brighella – begin dancing as a certain cure for Ariadne’s melancholy, though Zerbinetta sees clearly that it isn’t working.

CD 2 She decides on a woman-to-woman approach, attempting to cheer Ariadne – who soon stalks off – by recounting her extensive sexual history of being conquered by men who thought they were gods, which she would find deplorable if it hadn’t all been quite so delicious. Harlekin bounces on to commiserate with Zerbinetta’s forlorn efforts,

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Opera about it, but is forestalled by the bald singer emerging from his dressing-room, trading 9 Overture (Orchestra) 3’44 insults with the wig-master. 10 Schläft sie? (Najade/Dryade/Echo/Ariadne) 3’53 Zerbinetta emerges en dishabille with an officer, complaining that her troupe’s 11 Wo war ich? Tot? (Ariadne/Echo/Harlekin/Zerbinetta/Truffaldino) 3’16 comedy will wither after such a deadly bore as . The Prima Donna 12 Ein Schönes war, hieß Theseus-Ariadne (Ariadne/Najade/Dryade/ 7’00 appears, imperiously demanding to speak to the Count. The Composer enquires about Echo/Harlekin/Zerbinetta/Truffaldino/Scaramuccio) Zerbinetta, and when he discovers the reason for the commedia dell’arte troupe’s 13 Lieben, Hassen, Hoffen, Zagen (Harlekin/Echo/Zerbinetta) 2’16 presence, he rails at the philistinism of both patrons and punters alike. Calming down, 14 Es gibt ein Reich (Ariadne) 6’02 he recalls his recent flash of inspiration, and then has another. Zerbinetta is joined by 15 Die Dame gibt mit trübem Sinn…Wie sie sich schwingen 5’00 her commedia colleagues who play her four lovers. As the Music Master tries to pacify (Harlekin/Scaramuccio/Brighella/Truffaldino/Zerbinetta) the outraged Prima Donna, Zerbinetta’s Dancing Master sees the sense in going on after the opera, if only in order to provide relief. But the Music Master is adamant: Compact Disc 2 50’39 Ariadne is all anyone will remember. The Major Domo reappears and drops a bombshell: the opera seria and the 1 Größmächtige Prinzessin (Zerbinetta) 11’10 commedia dell’arte must now be performed simultaneously. The protestations of both 2 Hübsch gepredigt! Aber tauben Ohren!…Eine Störrische zu trösten 8’01 troupes are dismissed: the fireworks are more important. The Dancing Master, rather (Harlekin/Zerbinetta/Brighella/Scaramuccio/Truffaldino) taken with the idea, tries in vain to convince the Composer to consent, and the Music 3 Ein schönes Wunder! (Dryade/Najade/Echo) 3’40 Master reminds his pupil of the as-yet unpaid fee on which he is relying. The Dancing 4 Circe, kannst du mich hören? 6’08 Master proposes cuts: better half an opera-seria than none at all. He sets him to work, (Bacchus/Ariadne/Najade/Dryade/Echo) whilst extolling Zerbinetta’s genius for improvisation which will smooth over any 5 Theseus! Nein! Nein! (Ariadne/Bacchus) 10’35 difficulties in performance. The Tenor and the Prima Donna respectively approach the 6 Das waren Zauberwörte (Ariadne/Bacchus) 3’14 Composer and the Music Master with a view to reducing the other’s roles, whilst the 7 Gibt es kein Hinüber? 7’51 Dancing Master gives a droll resumé of the opera seria’s plot to Zerbinetta. The (Ariadne/Bacchus/Najade/Dryade/Echo/Zerbinetta) Composer reproaches her cynical view of tragic passion: Ariadne is the one woman who is faithful unto death. But Zerbinetta is unmoved: in her opinion all Ariadne needs is a new lover. Zerbinetta crudely encapsulates the opera seria’s plot to her ‘four lovers’, but the Composer counters with his own vision of fidelity, prompting Zerbinetta to engage in some tactical flirtation of the ‘I’m just a simple showgirl’ variety that

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and eventually did the rounds, it remained for decades a relative rarity, and really only Ariadne auf Naxos came into the general repertory from the 1960s onwards. Even now, when it is to be heard frequently in all the world’s major houses, it is clear that its popularity is due Following the stupendously successful premiere of in January 1911, almost entirely to the jaw-dropping virtuoso display-piece Grossmächtige Prinzessin Strauss, and in particular his librettist, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, decided it would be with which Zerbinetta punctures Ariadne’s tragic pretensions, a state of affairs that fitting to give some kind of thank-offering to , the man who had would of course horrify the fastidious Hofmannsthal, but would equally afford Strauss rescued the opera’s potentially dull staging from theatrical routine and had breathed the well-merited opportunity of saying ‘I told you so !’ dramatic life into all the singers behind the back of the solemnly incompetent, but officially credited, house producer. Since Reinhardt’s Kleines Theater in – where SYNOPSIS Strauss had seen both Oscar Wilde’s Salomé and Hofmannsthal’s adaptation of The action takes place in the house of the richest man in , in a salon readied for ’ in 1903 – could accommodate no more than thirty orchestral stage performance. players in a makeshift pit to act as accompaniment to stage , the form of the intended offering was effectively predetermined from the outset: a theatrical piece by CD 1 Hofmannsthal, with incidental music by Strauss, all for Reinhardt to give his famous THE PROLOGUE ‘touch’. Hofmannsthal decided to rework one of the many plays by Molière he had read in There is a brief prelude setting out the forthcoming clash between high and low forms connection with creating the world of Der Rosenkavalier, and crafted a suitably of musical entertainment, coupled with the bustle of backstage preparations. As the abridged and doctored version of the principal narrative of curtain rises, the composer’s teacher, the Music Master, rushes on in pursuit of the – a succession of cross-cultural confrontations between the stupid-but-newly-rich M. Major-Domo. The latter – a speaking role – confirms the shocking rumour that Ariadne Jourdain and a variety of supercilious, money-grubbing professionals all of whom he auf Naxos is to be followed by a lowbrow sex-farce; and that more important than naively interrogates – retitled Der Burger als Edelmann. Strauss would write some either will be the fireworks, scheduled for 9 o’clock sharp. A lackey ushers on an incidental music that in the French original had been provided by Lully, and the officer keen to pay court to Zerbinetta, who, it transpires, is already ‘occupied’. The composer would finally be permitted to extend himself in a new finale, jettisoning Composer enters and asks the lackey to find the string players for a rehearsal, but is Moliere’s cod-Turkish ceremony and Lully’s Ballet des Nations, in favour of a small- treated with insolence. He decides to speak to his Prima Donna who is to sing the role scale operatic entertainment, Ariadne auf Naxos. of Ariadne, but knocks at Zerbinetta’s dressing-room door by mistake. Getting no But, as with all Strauss’ post Elektra collaborations with the poet, it became reply, he hurls abuse at the lackey, who merely exits sniggering. Suddenly, melodic progressively more complicated as the project developed, until the two men were barely inspiration strikes, and the Composer decides to instruct the tenor performing Bacchus on speaking terms, with poor Strauss alternating between bemusement, distaste and

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plain incomprehension at the labyrinthine twists and turns Hofmannsthal’s fecund but of a commedia dell’arte troupe and an opera company forced to perform their preposterously high-flown imagination took. Strauss remained adamant, however, respective pieces concurrently. The setting would change from Baroque Paris to Neo- about one thing, notwithstanding Hofmannsthal’s spinsterish horror: the star of the Classical Vienna, M. Jourdain vanishing in favour of some unnamed philistine money- opera was going to be the coquettish, low-art figure of Zerbinetta, for whom he would bags. The prologue would feature a completely new character, that of the supposed single-handedly revive the quaint old tradition in a fearsomely difficult composer of the opera-proper, whose unworldly absorption in the world of art and display-piece; high-art Ariadne’s labyrinthine process of psychic transformation at the music would stand in the sharpest possible contrast to the matter-of-fact hirelings and hands of a similarly transitional-but-uncomprehending Bacchus, which was money-grubbers around him. There might even be room for a little flirtation between Hofmannsthal’s intended ‘message’, would simply have to take its chances. the two worlds…. Even working with the – by Strauss’ standards – minuscule forces of thirty-seven Strauss, however, whose doubts about the project had been proved right, refused to orchestral players proved to be beyond Reinhardt’s theatre’s capacity and the première rise to the bait, and instead insisted on plunging straight into the next joint project, the was instead entrusted to the smaller of Stuttgart’s two opera houses, on 25th October monumental . But this too was fated from the outset, and 1912, with in the title-role (instead of Strauss’ hoped-for Emmy Destinn) though Strauss would pester Hofmannsthal for the finished libretto of their ‘child of and the astonishing Margarethe Siems – the first and Marschallin ! – as sorrow’ for well over two years, it was not forthcoming; and, against the background Zerbinetta (instead of the intended ). Strauss himself was quick to of the First World War – in which, though past conscription age, Hofmannsthal served identify the reasons for the work’s tepid reception: the play-going audience there for as a diplomatic courier for the Austrian government – work on Fr’o’Sch, as Strauss Hofmannsthal’s reworking of the Molière had little interest in Strauss’s opera; and the called it, ground to a halt. It was only in 1916, with the first two acts of the magnum opera-audience had absolutely no desire to sit through over two hours of spoken opus already composed at white heat in 1914 but still no sign of the text of Act III, first. Such hybrids are always fascinating – think of Tom Stoppard’s and André Previn’s that an exasperated Strauss, having also finished Eine Alpensinfonie and with his life- Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, originally a collaboration between the London long workaholic’s desperate need to write something, anything, agreed to the old plan Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Shakespeare Company – but they are also to revise Ariadne. hopelessly impractical and ruinously expensive to mount. Notwithstanding two or three The new forty-minute prologue was dashed off in little more than a few weeks, high-profile stagings elsewhere in Germany, and a triumphantly successful one in notwithstanding Hofmannsthal’s utter disgust at discovering that Strauss was setting London in May 1913, conducted by , Ariadne Mark I found little the composer as a trouser role, in the manner of Octavian in Der Rosenkavalier. The favour as a theatrical experiment and failed to enter the repertoire. new première took place at the Vienna Court – now State – Opera House on 4th Hofmannsthal was privately mortified, and within ten weeks of the première was October 1916, with (deputising for an indisposed Marie Gutheil- writing to Strauss with a plan to sever the links between play and opera by replacing Schoder) securing a triumph as the Composer, thus inaugurating her decades-long the Molière with a new operatic prologue that would explain the simultaneous presence career as Strauss’ favourite . Though the work was better received this time,

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