Richard Strauss - Ariadne auf Naxos / Susan Anthony, Iride Martinez, Sophie Koch, Jon Villars, Colin Davis, Dresden Opera Review & Ratings

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Richard Strauss - Ariadne auf Naxos / Susan Anthony, Iride Martinez, Sophie Koch, Jon Villars, Colin Davis, Dresden Opera Review

I'm still reeling from watching the new DVD of the 2000 production of Marco Arturo Marelli's production of "Ariadne auf Naxos" for Dresden's Semperoper. Delightfully zany are the words that spring immediately to mind.

Updated (though difficult during the prologue to tell just what period, costumes time traveling as they seem) Marelli's marvelous set gives the feeling of a communal dressing/rehearsal area in a theatre's basement. Dressing rooms on either side, with a large lavatory stage right has occupants coming and going, hangers-on washing hands, etc. as the idealistic composer hyperactively approaches a nervous breakdown.

Sophie Koch (who for all the world looks like Laura San Giacomo auditioning for "Master Class" - or is it the young Joel Grey as Schubert?) is offers a genuinely manic Komponist. The voice has a squeaky clean element to it while possessing a nice warmth and weight, gorgeous tone and fearless on top.

The prologue fairly snaps under Marelli's fast paced direction lending it the feel of one of those hyperactive screwball 1930's Hollywood comedies (I kept waiting to see Carol Lombard or the Marx Brothers pop in) - the entire cast coming close to crashing in some corybantic crescendo. (Yes, it's that much fun!) I love when a director makes me see a familiar work with fresh eyes and experience it almost as for the first time. This Ariadne does that.

Susan Anthony's Prima Donna is properly prima donnish. Early on the voice
reminded me of the same "type" voice as Kiri Te Kanawa, but with a touch more "oomph" - her beautiful, quick, even vibrato not the least of those shared qualities. If there is weakness it (at least here) is in the mid range which just doesn't project nearly as well as the rest which, unfortunately makes a good chunk of "Es gibt ein Reich" just a tad less exciting than I hoped for. The upper range, however, is stunning - a truly gorgeous sound. Anthony's Ariadne is hilarious, stubborn and heartbreaking. Pretty damned good!

Iride Martinez looks like a Costa Rican Eartha Kitt. In a great 50's style gown with sequined serpents coiling at the top, her Zerbinetta is one of great cynical beauty as she dances, jumps, moves with vain elegance like a musical comedy pro. "Grossmachtige Prinzessin" is clearly the showstopper here and Martinez is sassy, just shy of crass, and white hot. She possesses a crystalline quality to the voice and the technical ability to pull of the role with barely a hitch and tosses off that big High E that not only dazzles it has enough size to it to knock you off your seat!

The oddly attired nymphs come into their own and provide some of the work's most beautiful music as they announce and welcome Bacchus to the island - truly one of my favorite moments in any of Strauss's scores.

The comedia del arte troupe is hilariously gotten up in campy beach wear (with umbrellas, beach balls, etc.) and they sing and expertly execute their choreography with a delightful and slightly derisive comic panache.

Jon Villars brief appearance as the tenor offers a perfect, over-the-top egomaniac in a dressing gown. His Bacchus is a bit wooden (what Bacchus isn't?) and fairly unfortunately costumed his face (as well as all exposed skin) painted gold with a white post-punk hairstyle that makes him look like a negative of Buster Crabbe's Flash Gordon. The voice however, is a marvel. Sizeable and gleaming Villars cuts through everything with a glorious, thrilling bite. (He does have a problem with one note - an A I believe, and looked momentarily irritated, but recovered beautifully).

The final duet is creatively carried out, the couple making use of the then closed stage curtain as they slowly sink into it as if an abyss only to have it re-open to reveal thrilling visual effects that come close to matching Strauss's magic score.

Marelli puts new spins in this Ariadne, creating even more characters than usual in an already well-populated opera. He makes visible the guests attending "Ariadne" as they mill about sipping champagne, bored, sitting on the set or watching television. Another wonderful touch is having the composer part of the performance - alternatively smitten and horrified by everyone and everything. We see his face register self-indulgent joy as he listens to Ariadne sing his glorious music; we watch him transfixed, almost transfigured with a touch of homoerotic wonder as his Bacchus approaches him; and finally we see even this idealistic youth succumb to the charms of Zerbinetta.

Colin Davis leads a fairly propulsive reading, drawing ravishing sound from the orchestra. The entire thing, while never really feeling "rushed" seems to pass in the blink of an eye.

This truly is a theatrically thrilling production of Ariadne that could hold its own in any great theatre district. Ariadne auf Broadway, anyone?

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Richard Strauss - Ariadne auf Naxos / Susan Anthony, Iride Martinez, Sophie Koch, Jon Villars, Colin Davis, Dresden Opera Overview

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