Plot and Creation: Ariadne auf Naxos

The Play Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme by Molière the Story of Ariadne from Greek Mythology

Strauss’s opera was originally conceived as a short opera-within-a-play for Hugo von Hofmannsthal’s adaptation of Molière’s comedy Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme (The Bourgeois Gentleman). The five-act comédie-ballet combining theater, music, and dance takes place at the home of the wealthy Mr. Jourdain in Paris. Mr. Jourdain, who is considered “bourgeois” because of his father’s success as a cloth merchant, is determined to rise in social rank and become recognized as an aristocrat. Despite his wife’s pleading that he be content with his current status, he spends lots of money to be educated in aristocratic practices of fencing, dancing, music, and philosophy and orders lavish new tailor-made clothing. As Mr. Jourdain rises in social standing, he becomes increasingly aspirational: He dreams of marrying a marchioness and forces his daughter Lucille’s engagement to a nobleman, even though she is already in love with the middle-class Cléonte. With the assistance of Jourdain’s wife and valet, Cléonte pretends to be the son of the Sultan of Turkey, winning Jourdain’s permission to wed Lucille. The play ends with Lucille’s wedding to the “Turkish sultan” and a special ceremony in which Jourdain is “ennobled” as father of the bride.  

While the first section (the Prologue) is based on Hofmannsthal’s adaption of Molière’s play, the second section of the work (the Opera) is inspired by the classical myth of Ariadne. Ariadne was a princess from the island of Crete, daughter of the Cretan king Minos. She appears in many different myths but is perhaps best known for using a thread to help the Athenian hero Theseus escape the labyrinth in her father’s palace after he kills the Minotaur, a beast that is half man, half bull and that has long terrorized the Cretan populace. Following the escape from the labyrinth, Ariadne and Theseus sail to the island of Naxos. Ariadne expects to live a long and happy life with Theseus—and when she wakes one day to find that he has abandoned her, she is distraught. Her story has a happy ending, however, when Bacchus, the Greek god of wine, discovers her on Naxos and marries her.

The original version of Hofmannsthal’s play lasted more than six hours and premiered in 1912. Four years later, the opera-within-the-play was extracted and performed as a standalone work with a lengthy prologue; this is the version that opera audiences know and love today.

Prologue

Vienna, 18th century

At the home of the richest man in Vienna, preparations for a lavish evening are underway. The Music Master has just learned that the tragic opera Ariadne auf Naxos—which has been prepared for the festivities by his protégé, the Composer—will be followed by a comic performance by a burlesque troupe. The Music Master begs the nobleman’s head servant, the Major-Domo, to reorganize the musical lineup, since both the Composer and the opera’s singers will object to having their work followed by a ridiculous comedy. The Major-Domo reminds him, however, that only the nobleman can decide the evening’s entertainment. The Composer enters, hoping for a final rehearsal with his musicians before the performance, but a servant informs him that the musicians are busy providing dinner music for the nobleman and his guests. Torn between frustration and excitement, the Composer thinks of last-minute changes to his score and instructions for his singers.  

Backstage, the Tenor argues with the wigmaker, and the Prima Donna complains about the comedy troupe. Zerbinetta, the comedy troupe’s leader, has her own objections to being paired with the “boring” opera. The Major-Domo enters with an announcement: For the fireworks to begin on time, the two performances must be done simultaneously.

The Composer is outraged by this new development, even as the Music Master tries to convince him to find a way to combine the two musical performances. The Music Master and Dance Master try to brainstorm a solution while the Tenor and Prima Donna each lobby for the other’s part to be cut. Zerbinetta sees a solution, and explains her plan to her troupe: The opera tells the story of the heartbroken princess Ariadne, who has been abandoned by her lover Theseus on the island of Naxos, where she waits for death to end her suffering. The burlesque troupe’s comedy can also take place on the desert island, and the comic performers will show the princess that she simply needs to find a new lover. When the Composer dismisses such a tawdry solution for his noble heroine, Zerbinetta begins to flirt with him, inspiring him to accept her compromise. The Music Master enters and announces the start of the performance, and the Composer, blinded by his new love for Zerbinetta, looks forward to the new show—until he realizes what he has done.

The Opera

The Ariadne myth tells how Prince Theseus of Athens set out for Crete to kill the Minotaur, a creature half man, half bull, who was concealed in a labyrinth. Princess Ariadne of Crete fell in love with Theseus and gave him a ball of thread that enabled him to find his way out of the labyrinth after he had killed the Minotaur. When Theseus left Crete, he took Ariadne with him as his bride. During their voyage home, they stopped at the island of Naxos. While Ariadne was asleep, Theseus slipped away and continued his journey to Athens without her. The opera Ariadne auf Naxos begins at this point.

The opera opens with Ariadne alone and abandoned on a desert island. Three nymphs look on and lament Ariadne’s fate. Ariadne sings of her longing for the realm of death. The members of the burlesque troupe arrive with a plan to cheer up the heartbroken princess. First, Harlekin tries to entertain her with a song, but the princess, stoically awaiting Hermes—the messenger of death—refuses to enjoy his music. Next, Zerbinetta addresses the princess. She tries to convince Ariadne that the only way to get over a broken heart is to find someone new. Disgusted, Ariadne leaves the stage while Zerbinetta considers her own fickle love interests.  

The nymphs reappear and announce the arrival of a ship. Ariadne believes that it must be Hermes, and she prepares for death. It is Bacchus the god of wine, however, who has arrived on the island. At first glance, Ariadne mistakes him for her beloved Theseus, but Bacchus explains that he is a god who has recently fled the clutches of the sorceress Circe. Enchanted by Ariadne’s beauty, he refuses to leave her on the island, and she finds herself transformed by this new love. The two prepare to depart the island together and ascend to the heavens. Before the curtain closes, Zerbinetta appears once more to remind us that her cure for heartbreak was the correct solution all along.

1864
Richard Strauss is born in Munich in the Kingdom of Bavaria on June 11. He is the older of two children born to the principal horn player at the Court Opera in Munich and the daughter of a wealthy brewer. Strauss’s father Franz oversees his early musical training.

1874
Hugo von Hofmannsthal is born in Vienna to an upper-class family. His great-grandfather was a tobacco farmer ennobled by the Austrian emperor, giving the family the title “von Hofmannsthal.”

1882
Strauss enrolls at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. 1883 After studying only one semester in Munich, Strauss heads first to Dresden and then to Berlin, two of Germany’s major musical centers. His exposure to Berlin’s rich concert and theater life will have a lasting impact on his work.

1885
Strauss is appointed assistant to the great conductor Hans von Bülow in Meiningen. While in Meiningen, Strauss also makes the acquaintance of Alexander Ritter. An important aesthetic mentor, Ritter introduces Strauss to “music of the future,” a musical movement headed by Richard Wagner and Franz Liszt that prioritizes new musical forms (such as tone poems) and the storytelling potential of music. Ritter also encourages Strauss’s interest in the writings of Arthur Schopenhauer, who argued for a mystical view of the world and the power of music.

1886
Strauss returns to Munich to take up a post as the third conductor of the Bavarian State Opera. During his time in Munich, he composes a number of important early works, including several tone poems. A year later, after befriending composer Gustav Mahler, Strauss meets soprano Pauline de Ahna, his future wife.

1889
Strauss is appointed Kapellmeister to the Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach. In the summer, he serves as the assistant conductor at the Bayreuth Festival, a music festival devoted entirely to the performance of Wagner’s works, where he meets Cosima Wagner.

1892
Hofmannsthal begins a course of study in law and French philology at the University of Vienna. The works of the Roman poet Ovid are a significant influence on Hofmannsthal, who started writing poetry at a young age.

1894
The premiere of Strauss’s first opera, Guntram, takes place in Weimar in May. The libretto, also by Strauss, is a story of love and redemption set in medieval Germany and reveals Wagner’s influence on Strauss’s work. The critical reception is lukewarm at best, and the work is only staged a few times during Strauss’s life. In the summer, Strauss makes his conducting debut at Bayreuth. Strauss conducts Wagner’s Tannhäuser, whose title character, a medieval German singer and poet, finds redemption through the love of Princess Elisabeth. Strauss’s wife Pauline sings the role of Elisabeth.

1898
The Strausses move to Berlin, where Richard has secured one of the most prestigious jobs in Germany: principal conductor of the Staatskapelle Berlin at the Berlin State Opera.

1900
Strauss and Hofmannsthal meet in Berlin. A year later, Hofmannsthal graduates from the University of Vienna.

1905
Strauss sees a production of Hofmannsthal’s drama Elektra, based on the ancient Greek tragedy by Sophocles about a young woman whose single-minded determination to avenge her father’s death leads her to murder her mother. In December, Strauss’s scandalous opera Salome premieres in Dresden. It is hugely successful, providing the composer additional income in the form of royalties that significantly augment his salary as a conductor.

1906
Strauss and Hofmannsthal begin their first collaboration on the opera Elektra, setting the story of Hofmannsthal’s play to highly modernist and atonal music, like that of Salome. It premieres in Dresden in 1909. Their second collaboration, the comedy Der Rosenkavalier, premieres in Dresden two years later to rapturous acclaim.

1912
Hofmannsthal writes an adaptation of Molière’s play Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme. Strauss provides the play’s incidental music as well as the music for an opera within the play.

1914
The First World War breaks out. During the war, Strauss works on the music for his next opera with Hofmannsthal, Die Frau ohne Schatten, but the librettist’s military service delays the opera’s progress.

1916
Strauss and Hofmannsthal replace the play in the original version of Ariadne auf Naxos with a prologue, creating the opera that is known today. This version premieres at the Hofoper in Vienna on October 4.

1918
The First World War ends with the defeat of Germany and the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. Following the war, Strauss moves to Vienna to become principal conductor of the Vienna State Opera.

1919
Strauss and Hofmannsthal’s Die Frau ohne Schatten premieres at the Vienna State Opera, marking the composer’s new appointment. Its reception is unenthusiastic. Strauss and Hofmannsthal will go on to collaborate on two further operas, Die Ägyptische Helena (1928) and Arabella (1933).

1929
While working on the libretto for Arabella, Hofmannsthal suffers a fatal stroke. The death of his friend and colleague has a profound effect on Strauss.

1949
Strauss suffers a heart attack on August 15 and dies of kidney failure on September 8.

1962
The Metropolitan Opera performs Ariadne auf Naxos for the first time.