Ariadne auf Naxos is an opera about opera. Strauss wrote 90 minutes of scrumptiously lush music. The poet Hugo von Hofmannsthal provided a libretto that divides the performance into a Prologue and then an opera about the Greek goddess Ariadne.
The prologue is opera buffo that presents the comic backstage psychological game play of those preparing to entertain a nouveau riche, quixotic Viennese patron. Comedia dell’arte players collide with the opera’s composer and singers arguing against their patron’s command for the players and the opera seria, titled Ariadne auf Naxos, to be superimposed so his fireworks can start punctually at 9pm.
Strauss uses that artifice to contrast the perky, kindly Zerbinetta and her cheerful troop with the grander, melancholic Ariadne whom Theseus has abandoned on the island of Naxos. She will soon be revitalised by Bacchus who discovers his godlike status in the process.
It is an opera to be enjoyed on many levels, especially glorious musical styles and the witty plot. But the opera, which was created in the pre World War I Vienna of Freud and Art Nouveau comments on society, how daily life and artifice mirror each other and how they are put before the audience.
Where – Concert Hall, Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University, Southbank Brisbane
When – Sunday 9thDecember 2018 at 3pm
Tuesday 11thDecember 2018 at 7pm
Tickets - A Reserve $70 / Concession $60
B Reserve $50 / Concession $40
Tickets available online at www.qtix.com
Cast and Creatives
Conductor - Simone Young AM
Director - Heather Fairbairn
Musical Preparation - John Fisher, Lisa Gasteen AO, Jennifer Marten –Smith and Philip Mayers
Repetiteurs -Simon Bruckard and Sarka Budinska
Orchestra - Ensemble Q
The Prima Donna/Ariadne - Elizabeth Lewis
The Tenor/ Bacchus - Raymond Very
Zerbinetta - Rachel Pines
Harlequin - Cameron Taylor
The Composer - Shikara Ringdahl
Echo - Peta Chapman
Scaramuccio - TBA
Truffaldino - Luke Stoker
Brighella - TBA
Naiad - Anna Stephens
Dryad - Melissa Gregory
Music Master - Cameron Taylor
Dancing Master - Robert MacFarlane
Wig Maker - Daniel Macey
The Major-Domo - Phillip Mayers
The Lackey - Henry Pinder
An Officer - Tom Holownia
