by Carol Harbers
We were confused. After three wonderful sessions at Elizabeth Reifke’ s home— exploring the mythological figures of Ariadne, Theseus, Bacchus, and Circe, brought to“ visual life” through famous portraits by Titian and Waterhouse, watching a 2022 New York Metropolitan Opera performance, and reading the translated Hofmannsthal libretto— we were ready. Or so we thought. The opening prologue, we expected, would be a preparty rehearsal of a young composer’ s opera, Ariadne, performed alongside a troupe of commedia dell’ arte actors led by Zerbinetta. Instead, it was a party celebrating a silver wedding anniversary and ending with the sudden death of the husband, Theseus, from a heart attack.
Dmitri Tcherniakov’ s 2025 production at the Staatsoper Hamburg, the final installment of his Strauss trilogy, relocates the opera from the mythical island of Naxos to an opulent, middle-class living room. The collision of“ high art”( opera seria) and“ low art”( opera buffa) is transformed into an intimate family drama. Ariadne is no longer just a mythological figure mourning a lost lover; she is a grieving widow surrounded by family and friends who act out various roles, a kind of“ family therapy” to help her move on. Bacchus is recast not as a god, but as Zerbinetta’ s latest lover, encouraging Ariadne to forget Theseus and embrace life again. The result is both intimate and psychologically authentic.
We were also rewarded with some strong principal performances. Without a doubt, Nadezhda Pavlova as Zerbinetta was the group’ s( and the audience’ s) favorite. Her
performance of the demanding coloratura role was a“ show-stopper,” delivered with self-assurance and technical brilliance. I personally preferred Anja Kampe as Ariadne— agreeing with other reviews that her“ brilliant and divine” voice perfectly suited the role. American tenor Jamez McCorkie sang Bacchus with a warm, resonant tenor that may not have been godlike— but it certainly melted some hearts( and not just Ariadne’ s).
True to Hamburg Staatsoper form, Tcherniakov layered political and historical resonance into the production. Projected surtitles and the unsettling, revolving final scene reflected the opera’ s origins on the eve of World War I, a reminder that“ all action is play on the edge of the abyss”— a
sentiment that resonates with our present times.
We left with fresh eyes on a familiar story, enchanted by Strauss’ s rich, expressive score, which beautifully balances Ariadne’ s emotional depth with Zerbinetta’ s sparkling, playful coloratura, and by the unexpected twists of this reimagined Ariadne auf Naxos.
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