Strauss: Ariadne auf Naxos - Maggio Musicale Fiorentino (2022) [Blu-ray]

Richard Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos is one of the early 20th century’s most peculiar operatic works. Its narrative derives from the famous myth of Ariadne, who is abandoned by Theseus on the island of Naxos and eventually falls in love with the god Bacchus. This opera is, however, preceded by an extensive modern prologue in which a young Composer finds himself tortured by egotistical artists complicating preparations for the opera’s production in an eternal struggle between comedy and high art. Set in the beautiful Teatro della Pergola in Florence, Matthias Hartmann’s 2022 production was a triumphant success both for its soloists and conductor Daniele Gatti in his first season as musical director at the Maggio Musicale Foundation.

In this work Strauss and von Hofmannsthall face the myth of Arianna, which over the centuries had inspired many musicians from Monteverdi onwards, from an ironic and detached perspective, transferring the action in a hybrid dimension in which pathetic and comic elements coexist. The relationship that is established between the two narrative levels at stake - the reality of the Prologue and the artificial reality of the representation - creates a semantic short-circuit underlined by Strauss through the musical parody that feeds on heterogeneous stylistic features coming both from the serious work and from the funny. To make Ariadne's sonic appearance even more original, Strauss then resorted to an unusual orchestral ensemble that includes a baroque orchestra and foreign instruments such as the harp, harmonium, piano and percussion.