The opera was originally conceived as a 30-minute divertissement to be performed at the end of Hofmannsthal's adaptation of Molière's play Le Bourgeois gentilhomme. Besides the opera, Strauss provided incidental music to be performed during the play. In the end, the opera occupied ninety minutes, and the performance of play plus opera occupied over six hours. It was first performed at the Hoftheater Stuttgart on 25 October 1912. The director was Max Reinhardt. The combination of the play and opera proved to be unsatisfactory to the audience: those who had come to hear the opera resented having to wait until the play finished.
Librettist | Hugo von Hofmannsthal |
Date of composition | 1912 (revised in 1916) |
Premiered | 1912, October 25th in Stuttgart, Germany |
First published | 1912 |
Type | Opera |
Catalogue | TrV 228 |
Approx. duration | 160 minutes |
Spoken language | German |
Instruments |
Orchestra
Chorus/Choir Voice (Soprano) - The prima donna/Ariadne Voice (Tenor) - The tenor/Bacchus Voice (Soprano) - Coloratura ; Zerbinetta Voice (Baritone) - Harlequin, a player Voice (Tenor) - Scaramuccio, a player Voice (Bass) - Truffaldino, a player Voice (Tenor) - Brighella, a player Voice (Soprano) - The composer Voice (Baritone) - His music master Voice (Tenor) - The dancing master Voice (Baritone) - A wigmaker Voice (Bass) - A lackey Voice (Tenor) - An officer Narrator, Recitant, Speaker - The Major-Domo Voice (Soprano) - Naiad, a nymph Voice (Contralto) - Dryad, a nymph Voice (Soprano) - Echo, a nymph |
In listings |
●
Famous Works
|
Autotranslations beta |
Richard Strauss: Ariadne auf Naxos, TrV 228 Richard Strauss: Ariadne auf Naxos, TrV 228 Richard Strauss: Ariadne auf Naxos, TrV 228 |