Strauss: Ariadne auf Naxos (original version) Soloists, Orchestre de l’Opera National de Lyon, Kent Nagano, conductor (Virgin Classics)
“Ariadne auf Naxos” is often described as one of Richard Strauss’ problem operas, and this first commercial recording of the original version is an honest attempt to confront the problems head-on.
It only confirms how unsatisfying the original pairing of a full-length spoken drama (a German translation of Moliere’s “Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme”) with the full-length opera was, and why Strauss felt compelled to rethink his two-headed monster, resulting in the version of “Ariadne” we normally see on stage today. Still, there’s so much glorious music in the opera that one can readily forgive Strauss for having gone through with the ill-conceived plan foisted on him by poet Hugo von Hofmannsthal.
Kent Nagano, of course, makes certain concessions to practicality. The conductor has reduced “Der Buerger als Edelmann” to a series of monologues for Monsieur Jourdain framing Strauss’ delectable musical interludes. And while actor Ernst Theo Richter is nicely pompous in the part, he cannot make us forget we are essentially listening to a Reader’s Digest condensation of Moliere with snippets of music shoehorned in.
Musically, however, Nagano’s set is a triumph for all concerned. His chamber-ish treatment of the work seems just right, bringing out a delicacy and charm so often lost in big-opera-theater productions of “Ariadne auf Naxos.” The sensitivity and clarity of his conducting bring us closer to the composer’s original musical conception than any other “complete” recording on the market.
The cast is mostly admirable as well. Soprano Margaret Price, though now rather matronly in sound, has the bell-like limpidity, technical precision and musicality the demanding title role requires. She delivers moments of poignancy, introspection and sensitivity, particularly at the beginning of “Es gibt ein Reich.” Sumi Jo offers marvelous flexibility and dazzling coloratura passagework in the longer, even more fiendishly taxing showpiece aria for Zerbinetta, while tenor Goesta Winbergh is a light-ish but perfectly calculated and interpetively strong Bacchus. The supporting singers are all on the money. Virgin’s recording has the immediacy of an actual theatrical event and the annotations untangle the work’s gnarled history. In all, a must for Straussians.
