Ariadne on Naxos by Strauss, From (2022/2022), Directed by Kai Anne Schuhmacher, Conductor György Mészáros, Landestheater Detmold, Detmold, Germany

A rich gentleman is planning the performance of a comedy ("The Unfaithful Zerbinetta and Her Lovers") and a serious opera ("Ariadne auf Naxos"). The hostile mood between the dedicated comedians on one side and the opera singers on the other is fueled further when the same gentleman out of the blue orders the simultaneous performance of both works - a shock, not only for the distraught composer, but also a chance: Because this is how the sadness of the abandoned Ariadne collides with the comedian Zerbinetta's lust for life. What appeared to be incompatible and catastrophic in the »Prelude« – precisely the combination of opera buffa and opera seria – turns out to be a coup in the »opera«. The miracle of the theater seems perfect... »Ariadne auf Naxos« brings the tense relationship between comic and serious opera to the stage; a conflict that bundles central debates in the history of opera like in a burning mirror. But this opera is not just about art, but, like most operas, also about love. But which woman is right? Is it the pretty Zerbinetta, the realist, who perfectly assesses her possibilities of short, entertaining happiness with many men and uses every opportunity? Who charms men with lust and skill? Or is Ariadne right, the ideal who is only looking for one true love in life? What at first glance might seem deliberate and constructed is one of the most impressive music theater works by the legendary duo Richard Strauss and Hugo von Hofmannsthal. The authors' love of sharp contrasts and breaks between simplicity and high art, between comedy and seriousness leads to an unexpected harmony of these two worlds in »Ariadne auf Naxos«. The theater performs itself, shying away from pathos and having a blast.