Ariadne auf Naxos

Just before a young composer’s new opera is about to be premiered, he learns that the wealthy but philistine patron who commissioned the piece wishes to make some last-minute changes.

His heroic opera about Ariadne, tormented by lost love and yearning for death, must be performed at the same time as a piece by a burlesque troupe. In line with the patron’s wishes (and against the composer’s will), the carefree Zerbinetta and her suitors are inserted into the Ariadne opera.

The result, as Richard Strauss’s librettist Hugo von Hofmannsthal described it, is a »juxtaposition between the woman who only loves once and the one who gives herself many times«.

Through the archetypal opera characters, a confrontation is staged between two different models of love and life that is sometimes humorous and playful, sometimes serious. The work also reflects on artistic questions such as the coexistence of comedic and dramatic elements in opera, and transports the audience into the turbulent events behind the scenes of a fictional opera premiere.

Cast

Musical director: Eun Sun Kim
Director: Hans Neuenfels
Stage director
Conductor: Caroline Staunton
Set design: Katrin Lea Tag
Costume design: Andrea Schmidt-Futterer
Lighting: Stefan Bolliger

The Steward: Max Urlacher
A Music Teacher: Roman Trekel
The Composer: Rebecka Wallroth
Primadonna, Ariadne: Camilla Nylund
Tenor, Bacchus: Marco Jentzsch
Zerbinetta: Serena Sáenz
Harlequin: Jaka Mihelač
Scaramuccio: Álvaro Diana
Truffaldin: Manuel Winckhler
Brighella: Junho Hwang
Najade: Sonja Herranen
Dryade: Sandra Laagus
Echo: Serafina Starke
An officer: Sotiris Charalampous
A wigmaker: Hanseong Yun
Lackey: David Oštrek
A dance master: Michael Laurenz
Puppeteer: JARNOTH

Orchestra: Staatskapelle Berlin

Dates
17 April 2026, 7:30 p.m.
19 April 2026, 6:00 p.m.
23 April 2026, 7:30 p.m.

Duration: approx. 2:30 hours including an interval after the prelude
Language: In German with German and English surtitles
Recommended age: 14 and above

Foreword 45 minutes before the performance begins in the Apollosaal