one act opera with prologue
Music by Richard Strauss
Libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal
The prologue and commedia dell'arte scenes
are performed in Russian
The arias and ensembles are performed in German
Musical Director: Valery Gergiev
Conductor: Christian Knapp & Leonid Korchmar
Director: Michael Sturminger
Costumes and Set Designers: Renate Martin & Andreas Donhauser
Musical Preparation: Larisa Gergieva
Onstage Movement: Yuri Smekalov
Literary Consultant: Derek Weber
World premiere of first version: 25 october 1912, Kleines Haus des Hoftheaters, Stuttgart
World premiere of second version: 4 October 1916, Court Opera (Hofoper), Vienna
Premiere at the Mariinsky Theatre: 18 October 2004, Saint-Petersburg
Premiere of the production at the Concert Hall of the Mariinsky Theatre: 8 March 2011, St Petersburg
Running time 2 hours
The Performance without interval
“At the end of the performance, which lasted two and a half hours with no interval, the audience broke into a frenzy from the “high” they had received, and so Ariadne has every chance of being a success in the future.”
Rossiiskaya Gazeta
“Pudova, with her clear, powerful and pliant voice, deserved the praise of the audience from her very first appearance. Three girls – Anastasia Kalagina, Anna Kiknadze and Eleonora Vindau (Naiad, Dryad and Echo) – wove their voices together in an intricate series of ensembles and they looked, so to speak, ‘a million dollars.’”
Infox.ru
“In readiness to storm the Tchaikovsky Competition, Olga Pudova (as Zerbinetta, the irrepressible leader of the troupe of comedians) and Maria Maksakova (in the mezzo-soprano role of the Composer) of the famed Maksakov performing dynasty performed and sang brilliantly. Singers acting out love… They gave the audience the chance to consider whether or not there might be some lesbian subtext in Strauss’ operas. The more so as in the score there is rather a lot of decadent erotic flair in the love dialogues of the various female voices.”
Izvestia
“The three nymphs were surprisingly the best – Anastasia Kalagina, Anna Kiknadze and Eleonora Vindau. These blossoming young women in their stunning 18th century dresses with their brilliant voices blended together in an excellent ensemble reflected the mystery which, even in comic operas, is present with Strauss. And, of course, in Valery Gergiev’s orchestra, with its unparalleled ability to draw out the dying chords as if life itself were coming to an end this instant.”
Vedomosti
“Sturminger is a genius because blending genres, styles and eras seems to come to him so easily. He resolved the task with Mozartian dazzle.”
Delovoi Peterburg
Mariinsky Theatre: 
Mariinsky-2 (New Theatre): 
Mariinsky Concert Hall: 
