Ariadne auf Naxos

Behind the scenes, the richest man in Vienna has commissioned an opera seria from a young composer, as well as inviting a troupe of commedia dell’arte actors… but as the performance must end at 9 pm precisely to be followed by a fireworks, he orders all the artists to perform... simultaneously! Stage-side, the frivolous Zerbinetta tries to convince the tragic Ariadne that the men involved are interchangeable – because they are all the same! Between fidelity and metamorphosis, Richard Strauss and Hugo von Hofmannsthal’s third collaboration is more than a tribute to Molière or Mozart; it is a chamber opera as impertinent as it is irresistible, one that has emerged through the decades unscathed. Their Ariadne auf Naxos returns to the Théâtre de l’Archevêché for a new production by resident director Katie Mitchell, conducted by Marc Albrecht.