Ariadne auf Naxos (May. 7, 2011)

Composer: Richard Strauss
Librettist: Hugo von Hofmannsthal

Luisi; Urmana, Smith, Kim, DiDonato, Allen

Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus

Approximate running time: 2 hrs. 1 min.

Strauss and Hofmannsthal’s masterpiece stars Violeta Urmana in the tour-de-force title role and Joyce DiDonato as the high-minded young Composer of the opera-within-an-opera. The performance of his serious work is interrupted to comic effect by the arrival of Zerbinetta (Kathleen Kim) and her commedia dell’arte troupe. Robert Dean Smith sings the god Bacchus who leads the grieving Ariadne away to a new life. Thomas Allen is the Music Master and Fabio Luisi conducts.