Bavarian State Opera 23 January 2022 - Ariadne auf Naxos | GoComGo.com

Ariadne auf Naxos

Bavarian State Opera, National Theatre, Munich, Germany
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7 PM

E-tickets: Print at home or at the box office of the event if so specified. You will find more information in your booking confirmation email.

You can only select the category, and not the exact seats.
If you order 2 or 3 tickets: your seats will be next to each other.
If you order 4 or more tickets: your seats will be next to each other, or, if this is not possible, we will provide a combination of groups of seats (at least in pairs, for example 2+2 or 2+3).

Important Info
Type: Opera
City: Munich, Germany
Starts at: 19:00
Acts: 1
Duration: 2h 15min
Sung in: German
Titles in: English,German

E-tickets: Print at home or at the box office of the event if so specified. You will find more information in your booking confirmation email.

You can only select the category, and not the exact seats.
If you order 2 or 3 tickets: your seats will be next to each other.
If you order 4 or more tickets: your seats will be next to each other, or, if this is not possible, we will provide a combination of groups of seats (at least in pairs, for example 2+2 or 2+3).

Overview

Is it possible to perform the comic intermezzo “Zerbinetta and her Lovers” and the tragic opera “Ariadne” at the same time? Yes, when you have to. The richest man in Vienna wants it that way. He wants cross-over! Let’s mix up classic and pop – and it works. To the delight of the audience and the recognition of the characters on stage.  One of the handsomest and wisest works of the great Munich composer, Richard Strauss, in a production by Robert Carsen. The joy of Strauss!

History
Premiere of this production: Staatsoper Stuttgart

Ariadne auf Naxos (Ariadne on Naxos) is an opera by Richard Strauss with a German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. Combining slapstick comedy and consummately beautiful music, the opera's theme is the competition between high and low art for the public's attention.

Synopsis

Prologue

Preparations are being made for the performance of the Opera seria „Ariadne auf Naxos“.
The man who has commissioned the opera has an announcement made: after the opera there will be entertainment with dancing. The composer of the opera feels that his artistic masterpiece is being mocked; his music master advises him nevertheless to accept the whims of the man who has commissioned the opera in order not to forfeit the fee for his composition. Shortly before the performance is due to begin, the latter changes his mind yet again; the opera and the comic entertainment are now to be played simultaneously so that the performance will not take so long. Whereas the composer would now prefer to destroy his opera completely, the music master advises him to shorten parts of his work in order to save the whole, and the dancing master points out that the comedians are very capable improvisers. The composer is very unwilling to do as they suggest; only when he meets the comedians‘ leading lady, Zerbinetta, in person does he begin to see things differently.

Opera

The three nymphs Naiad, Dryad and Echo, express their sympathy for Ariadne in her sorrow; she has been abandoned on a desert island by her beloved Theseus, whose life she has saved and now longs for death. Zerbinetta and her four companions, Harlequin, Brighella, Scaramuccio and Truffaldino, try in vain to comfort Ariadne in her distress. Zerbinetta in particular, who is used to passing from one lover to the next without a care in the world, explains to Ariadne in great detail her own attitude to the topics of love and devotion. As Ariadne gives no sign of being inspired by what she is telling her, Zerbinetta gives up; instead  each of the four men now tries to gain Zerbinetta’s favour and get rid of his rivals. After Zerbinetta has made her choice, the three nymphs announce the arrival of the god Bacchus. He has just escaped from the clutches of Circe and when he sees Ariadne he believes that he has fallen yet again into the power of the sorceress. Ariadne, for her part, thinks he is Hermes, the messenger of death, and begs him to take her with him. As they each gradually realize who the other is, Ariadne and Bacchus undergo a transformation: he becomes aware that he is a divine being and she realizes that she is willing to love again – as the composer foresaw and Zerbinetta prophesied it would be.

© Bayerische Staatsoper

Venue Info

Bavarian State Opera - Munich
Location   Max-Joseph-Platz 2

The Bavarian State Opera or the National Theatre (Nationaltheater) on Max-Joseph-Platz in Munich, Germany, is a historic opera house and the main theatre of Munich, home of the Bavarian State Opera, Bavarian State Orchestra, and the Bavarian State Ballet.

During its early years, the National Theatre saw the premières of a significant number of operas, including many by German composers. These included Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde (1865), Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (1868), Das Rheingold (1869) and Die Walküre (1870), after which Wagner chose to build the Festspielhaus in Bayreuth and held further premières of his works there.

During the latter part of the 19th century, it was Richard Strauss who would make his mark on the theatre in the city in which he was born in 1864. After accepting the position of conductor for a short time, Strauss returned to the theatre to become principal conductor from 1894 to 1898. In the pre-War period, his Friedenstag (1938) and Capriccio were premièred in Munich. In the post-War period, the house has seen significant productions and many world premieres.

First theatre – 1818 to 1823
The first theatre was commissioned in 1810 by King Maximilian I of Bavaria because the nearby Cuvilliés Theatre had too little space. It was designed by Karl von Fischer, with the 1782 Odéon in Paris as architectural precedent. Construction began on 26 October 1811 but was interrupted in 1813 by financing problems. In 1817 a fire occurred in the unfinished building.

The new theatre finally opened on 12 October 1818 with a performance of Die Weihe by Ferdinand Fränzl, but was soon destroyed by another fire on 14 January 1823; the stage décor caught fire during a performance of Die beyden Füchse by Étienne Méhul and the fire could not be put out because the water supply was frozen. Coincidentally the Paris Odéon itself burnt down in 1818.

Second theatre – 1825 to 1943
Designed by Leo von Klenze, the second theatre incorporated Neo-Grec features in its portico and triangular pediment and an entrance supported by Corinthian columns. In 1925 it was modified to create an enlarged stage area with updated equipment. The building was gutted in an air raid on the night of 3 October 1943.

Third theatre – 1963 to present
The third and present theatre (1963) recreates Karl von Fischer's original neo-classical design, though on a slightly larger, 2,100-seat scale. The magnificent royal box is the center of the interior rondel, decorated with two large caryatids. The new stage covers 2,500 square meters (3,000 sq yd), and is thus the world's third largest, after the Opéra Bastille in Paris and the Grand Theatre, Warsaw.

Through the consistent use of wood as a building material, the auditorium has excellent acoustics. Architect Gerhard Moritz Graubner closely preserved the original look of the foyer and main staircase. It opened on 21 November 1963 with an invitation-only performance of Die Frau ohne Schatten under the baton of Joseph Keilberth. Two nights later came the first public performance, of Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, again under Keilberth.

Important Info
Type: Opera
City: Munich, Germany
Starts at: 19:00
Acts: 1
Duration: 2h 15min
Sung in: German
Titles in: English,German
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