Why won't everyone just let poor abandoned Ariadne die in peace?

"There is a realm where all is pure"

Ernst Stern's design for the original 1912 Ariadne auf Naxos (click to enlarge)

There is a realm where all is pure:
it has a name too: Realm of Death.
[Rises from the ground.]
Here nothing is pure.
All is finished here.

[She pulls her robe close around her.]
But soon a messenger will draw nigh,
Hermes they call him.
With his staff
he rules all souls:
Like birds on the wing,
like dry leaves,
he drives them before him.
Thou beautiful, serene god!
See! Ariadne awaits!

Oh, my heart must be cleansed
of all wild grief,
then your presence will call me,
your footsteps will approach my cave,
darkness will cover my eyes,
your hand will touch my heart.
In the beautiful festal robes
that my mother bequeathed me
my body will remain;
the silent cave will be my tomb.
But mutely my soul
will follow its new lord,
as a light leaf in the wind
flutters downward, gladly falling.
Darkness will cover my eyes
and fill my heart;
this body will remain,
richly adorned and all alone.

You will set me free,
give me to myself,
this burdensome life,
take it from me.
I will lose myself entirely in you;
with you Ariadne will abide.
[She stands lost in thought.]

-- English translation by Peggie Cochrane

Maria Cebotari, soprano; Vienna Philharmonic, Herbert von Karajan, cond. EMI, recorded Nov. 16, 1948

Leontyne Price, soprano; London Symphony Orchestra, Fausto Cleva, cond. RCA, recorded 1965


"Playgoers, I bid you welcome. The theater is a temple, and we are here to worship the gods of comedy and tragedy. Tonight I am pleased to announce a comedy."

-- the principal player at the outset of A Funny
Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum

by Ken

We've already had a taste of the comedy of Ariadne auf Naxos, in the October 11 Sunday Classics snapshots post "Meet the Composer, Richard Strauss-style," observing the comically serious young Composer make his way backstage through the craziness preceding the performance of his opera seria of the same name. Now, above, we've gotten a taste of the tragedy.

(In studio recordings, I should add, of just this excerpt. The lovely Maria Cebotari [seen at right], heard here less than seven months before her untimely death, at 39, did sing Ariadne, and must have been radiant in the role, but Leontyne Price didn't take it on until years after she recorded this stand-alone "Es gibt ein Reich" in her Art of the Prima Donna series, in which she sampled roles she hadn't sung. (Eventually -- not this week, but eventually -- we'll hear more of her eventual Ariadne.)

We've also had a masterful exposition, two weeks ago, of the conventional way of handling comedy and tragedy, from the principal player at the top of Burt Shevelove, Larry Gelbart, and Stephen Sondheim's A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, the first show for which Stephen Sondheim wrote music as well as lyrics. It's probably still my favorite Sondheim song, and I can't ever hear it enough. So . . .

LET'S HEAR IT AGAIN -- AND AGAIN, AND AGAIN

SONDHEIM: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum:
"Comedy Tonight"

Zero as Pseudolus

Zero Mostel (Pseudolus) and company; Original Broadway Cast recording, Harold Hastings, musical director. Capitol, recorded 1962

Frankie Howerd (Pseudolus) and company; Original London Cast recording, Alyn Ainsworth, musical director. EMI-DRG, recorded 1963

Zero Mostel (Pseudolus) and company; Original Film Soundtrack recording, Ken Thorne, musical director. United Artists, recorded c1965


BUT WHAT IF WE HAD TRAGEDY AND COMEDY
ON THE SAME NIGHT, ALL MOOSHED TOGETHER?

Which is essentially the premise of Richard Strauss and Hugo von Hofmannsthal's Ariadne auf Naxos, whether in its original 1912 form, when it served as an entertainment plunked into a Hofmannsthal adaptation of Molière's Le bourgeois gentilhomme (with the composer providing incidental music for the play), or in the 1916 version, in which the creators brilliantly liberated the opera by adding a prologue in the home of "the richest man in Vienna" where we're backstage witnessing the final preparations for the evening's entertainment, which is to consist of an opera seria by a precocious and ever so serious young composer and a romp by a troupe of comic players -- the supreme and supremely riveting coquette Zerbinetta and a quartet of commedia dell'arte impersonators.

The conceit of the Prologue, you'll recall, is that at the 11th hour, the master sends word through his officious Major-Domo that the two entertainments are to be combined -- and to be finished in time for the fireworks also on order for the evening at exactly nine o'clock. And so the comedians, under the tutelage of the Dance Master, take on the task of watching for openings to liven up the proceedings, which are bound to become deadly under the crushing weight of the Composer's opera seria.

It's the comic element that makes Strauss and Hofmannsthal's Ariadne such a special treasure, but it's comedy in the context of deep seriousness, and this week I thought we might take a quick listen to the opera's credentials for "seriousness," by focusing on the monologue of the cruelly abandoned princess Ariadne which is the major event of the first part of "The Opera."


FOCUSING ON ARIADNE'S MONOLOGUE
MEANS DOING SOME SKIPPING

But we can at least start with the Overture to the opera seria. We've heard it before, but by way of reminder --

R. STRAUSS: Ariadne auf Naxos, Op. 60: Overture to the Opera


Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Karl Böhm, cond. Live performance, Mar. 28, 1970

Orchestra of the Opéra National de Lyon, Kent Nagano, cond. Virgin Classics, recorded Apr.-May 1994

Staatskapelle Dresden, Giuseppe Sinopoli, cond. Teldec, recorded Sept. and Dec. 2000

Now we skip over the potentially haunting -- but more often cloying -- scene of the watching-over of the unconscious Ariadne by the nymphs Najade and Dryade, backed up by the "soulless" Echo.

We're not going to dwell long on it, but let's at least get Ariadne awake.

Ariadne's awakening

ARIADNE: A-ach!
ECHO: A-ach!
ARIADNE: Where was I? Dead? And alive, alive again
and still living?
And yet it is no life that I live!
Broken heart, will you continue forever beating?
[Half raising herself]
What then was I dreaming? Woe is me! Forgotten already!
My head retains nothing anymore.
Only shadows slip
through a shadow.
And yet, something suddenly blazes up and pains me so!
A-ach!
ECHO: A-ach!

Jessye Norman (s), Ariadne; Julie Kaufmann (s), Echo; Gewandhaus Orchestra (Leipzig), Kurt Masur, cond. Philips, recorded January 1988

Gundula Janowitz (s), Ariadne; Adele Stolte (s), Echo; Staatskapelle Dresden, Rudolf Kempe, cond. EMI, recorded 1967

Note, here, what a difference the markedly different voices make, as between the voluminous, full-weight, full-range dramatic soprano of Jessye Norman vs. the not-much-more-than-lyric-weight soprano of Gundula Janowitz. The role really asks for that vocal range and amplitude, but some of the lighter-weight sopranos have made it work. (We'll hear another in a moment. In these tastings I've inclined to the Janowitz-Kempe version for the sheer beauty of the conducting of Rudolf Kempe and the playing he draws from the Dresden players. Which is not to slight the splendid work that Kurt Masur and his Leipzig players do in their recording.)

(1) Ariadne's monologue, part 1

"Ein Schönes war, hiess Theseus-Ariadne
und ging um Licht und freute sich des Lebens."
("There was a thing of beauty, called Theseus-Ariadne,
that walked in light and rejoiced in life.")

Jessye Norman (s), Ariadne; Gewandhaus Orchestra (Leipzig), Kurt Masur, cond. Philips, recorded January 1988

Gundula Janowitz (s), Ariadne; Staatskapelle Dresden, Rudolf Kempe, cond. EMI, recorded 1967

Now we've skipped a significant moment: the first interjection-from-the-wings of Zerbinetta and the comedians, awaiting their turn onstage, so that we can arrive at the start of Ariadne's immense monologue, beginning with the astonishing opening we just heard, with the superhumanly drawn-out opening line: "Ein Schönes war, hiess Theseus-Ariadne."

We'll hear the whole first part of the monologue in a moment, but I can't resist spotlighting this eerily gossamer moment, after Ariadne has rebuffed the nymphs' effort to bring her back to reality:

Ariadne, "Sie lebt hier ganz allein"

She lives here quite alone.
Lightly she breathes, lightly she moves,
not a blade stirs where she treads.

Jessye Norman (s), Ariadne; Gewandhaus Orchestra (Leipzig), Kurt Masur, cond. Philips, recorded January 1988

Gundula Janowitz (s), Ariadne; Staatskapelle Dresden, Rudolf Kempe, cond. EMI, recorded 1967

Ariadne continues on in this vein, and it's only the actual vision that's producing this ecstasy that may give us pause. Let's proceed to the whole of what I'm calling "Part 1" of the monologue.

As I mentioned, we're hearing another of those lighter-weight sopranos who made a success of the role, Lisa della Casa, who like Janowitz not only sings the music quite beautifully but is for me an enormously sympathetic singer, and della Casa, and exceptionally beautiful woman, must have cut a striking figure as Ariadne. We're also hearing Christa Ludwig, whom one might expect to encounter as the Composer, but she's said that she never liked the role (which she did sing). Ariadne, however, drew her to one of her crossovers into dramatic-soprano territory -- not as frequently as her other famous Strauss soprano roles, the Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier and especially the Dyer's Wife in Die Frau ohne Schatten (in which we've heard her here).

R. STRAUSS: Ariadne auf Naxos, Op. 60: Ariadne’s monologue, part 1,"Ein schönes war, hiess Theseus-Ariadne" ("There was a thing of beauty called Theseus-Ariadne")

ARIADNE [to herself, as in a monologue]:
There was a thing of beauty, called Theseus-Ariadne,
that walked in light and rejoiced in life,
that walked in light and rejoiced in life.
A thing of beauty was: Ariadne. Theseus.
Theseus! That walked in light and rejoiced in life.
Ariadne. Theseus.
Why do I know of it? I want to forget!
[Another idea occurs to her poor deranged mind.]
This one thing I have still to find: It is shameful
to be as confused as I am.
I must try to rouse myself: Yes, this I still must find:
the maiden that once I used to be!
Now I have it -- the gods grant that I hold on to it!
Not the name -- the name has grown together
with another name, one thing grows
so easily into another, alas!
NAJADE, DRYADE, and ECHO [trying to awaken her]:
Ariadne!
ARIADNE [motioning them away]:
No, not again! She lives here quite alone.
Lightly she breathes, lightly she moves,
not a blade stirs where she treads,
her sleep is chaste, her mind serene,
her heart as pure as a spring;
she keeps herself undefiled, for the day is soon to come
when she can wind herself in her mantle,
cover herself with a cloth
and lie there,
among the dead.

-- English translation by Peggie Cochrane

Lisa della Casa (s), Ariadne; Lisa Otto (s), Najade; Nada Puttar (ms), Dryade; Leonore Kirschstein (s), Echo; Berlin Philharmonic, Alberto Erede, cond. EMI, recorded 1959

Christa Ludwig (s), Ariadne; Lotte Schädle (s), Najade; Claudia Hellmann (ms), Dryade; Lisa Otto (s), Echo; Vienna Philharmonic, Karl Böhm, cond. Live perfomance from the Salzburg Festival, July 26, 1964

Jessye Norman (s), Ariadne; Eva Lind (s), Najade; Marianne Røhrholm (ms), Dryade; Julie Kaufmann (s), Echo; Gewandhaus Orchestra (Leipzig), Kurt Masur, cond. Philips, recorded January 1988

(2) Harlekin tries to cheer Ariadne up

"Lieben, Hassen, Hoffnen, Zagen,
alle Lust und alle Qual,
alles kann ein Herz ertragen
einmal und das andre Mal."
("Love, hatred, hope, fear,
every joy and every pain,
all this can a heart endure
once and many times again.")

My original plan was to jump directly to "Part 2" of Ariadne's monologue, but I decided that would be just too big a jump-over for us to jump over, because we would miss the first attempted interaction between Ariadne and the comedians literally waiting in the wings. Harlekin, who earlier was so moved by Ariadne as to declare, "How young and fair and infinitely sad," now voices concern over her state of mind, and Zerbinetta suggests . . . well, just listen.

(Listen in particular to Walter Berry, whom we heard previously as the Music Master in the Prologue from this same recording, and who sings the dickens out of both parts. The doubling isn't possible in the theater because the commedia dell'arte comedians, even though they don't actually open their mouths, appear in the Prologue. But in the recording studio RCA got splendid double duty not just from Berry but from tenor Murray Dickie as both the Dance Master and Brighella.)

R. STRAUSS: Ariadne auf Naxos, Op. 60: Harlekin's song,"Lieben, Hassen, Hoffnen, Zagen" ("Love, hatred, hope, fear")

ZERBINETTA [from the wings]:
Oh then, try a little song!
HARLEKIN [singing from the wings]:
Love, hatred, hope, fear,
every joy and every pain,
all this can a heart endure
once and many times again.
ECHO: repeats it soullessly, like a bird, without words.
HARLEKIN: But to feel not joy nor sadness,
even pain itself being dead,
that is fatal to your heart,
this you must not do to me!
You must lift yourself from darkness,
were it but to fresher pangs!
You must live, for life is lovely,
you must live again once more.
ECHO: as before.
[ARIADNE, unmoved, dreams on as before.]
ZERBINETTA [sotto voce]: She didn't raise her head once!
HARLEKIN [the same]: It's all no use.
I felt as much while I was singing.
ZERBINETTA: You're quite upset.
HARLEKIN: Never have I been so moved by any human being.
ZERBINETTA: You're the same about every woman.
HARLEKIN: And aren't you the same about every man?

-- English translation by Peggie Cochrane

Walter Berry (b), Harlekin; with Roberta Peters (s), Zerbinetta; Liselotte Maikl (s), Echo; Vienna Philharmonic, Erich Leinsdorf, cond. RCA-Decca, recorded 1958

Hermann Prey (b), Harlekin; with Sylvia Geszty (s), Zerbinetta; Adele Stolte (s), Echo; Staatskapelle Dresden, Rudolf Kempe, cond. EMI, recorded 1967

Olaf Bär (b) Harlekin; with Editá Gruberová (s), Zerbinetta; Julie Kaufmann (s), Echo; Gewandhaus Orchestra (Leipzig), Kurt Masur, cond. Philips, recorded January 1988

Erich Kunz (b), Harlekin; with Alda Noni (s), Zerbinetta; Elisabeth Rutgers (s), Echo; Vienna State Opera Orchestra, Karl Böhm, cond. Live performance in honor of Strauss's 80th birthday, June 11, 1944

Apologies here: When I started making clips of Harlekin's song I really didn't know how or even whether I was going to use them, and in a couple of the them I didn't leave in the last bit of the exchange between Harlekin and Zerbinetta. It's included in the Berry-Leinsdorf-RCA, Prey-Kempe-EMI, and Bär-Masur-Philips clips, which bring us right up to the launch of "Part 2" of Ariadne's monologue, which we heard Maria Cebotari and Leontyne Price sing at the top of the post.

(3) Ariadne's monologue, part 2

"Es gibt ein Reich, wo alles rein ist:
es hat auch einen Namen: Totenreich."
("There is a realm where all is pure:
it has a name too: Realm of Death.")

Leonie Rysanek (s), Ariadne; Vienna Philharmonic, Erich Leinsdorf, cond. RCA-Decca, recorded 1958

Christa Ludwig (s), Ariadne; Vienna Philharmonic, Karl Böhm, cond. Live perfomance from the Salzburg Festival, July 26, 1964

Fairly quickly, though, things start getting excited again. And here Leonie Rysanek -- a perfect vocal fit for Ariadne -- really starts coming into her own. (We've got another chunk of her coming up, and eventually -- not this week, but eventually -- we're going to hear her doing the whole of the monologue.) Christa Ludwig is pretty wonderful too, but note how she really doesn't have much choice but to blast out the upward leap on the name of the god "Hermes." (The singer who's electrifying here? The 1965-vintage Leontyne Price, at the top of the post. Gives me goose bumps every time. That said, however, Rysanek is pretty thrilling here.)

Ariadne, "Bald aber naht ein Bote"

But soon a messenger will draw nigh,
Hermes they call him.
With his staff
he rules all souls:
Like birds on the wing,
like dry leaves,
he drives them before him.
Thou beautiful, serene god!
See! Ariadne awaits!

Leonie Rysanek (s), Ariadne; Vienna Philharmonic, Erich Leinsdorf, cond. RCA-Decca, recorded 1958

Christa Ludwig (s), Ariadne; Vienna Philharmonic, Karl Böhm, cond. Live perfomance from the Salzburg Festival, July 26, 1964

And if we thought Part 1 of the monologue reached an ecstatic conclusion, check this out:

Ariadne, "Du wirst mich befreien"

You will set me free,
give me to myself,
this burdensome life,
take it from me.
I will lose myself entirely in you;
with you Ariadne will abide.

Leonie Rysanek (s), Ariadne; Vienna Philharmonic, Erich Leinsdorf, cond. RCA-Decca, recorded 1958

Christa Ludwig (s), Ariadne; Vienna Philharmonic, Karl Böhm, cond. Live perfomance from the Salzburg Festival, July 26, 1964

So, shall we hear the whole of Part 2 of the monologue?

R. STRAUSS: Ariadne auf Naxos, Op. 60: Ariadne’s monologue, part 2, "Es gibt ein Reich, wo alles rein ist" ("There is a realm where all is pure")

ARIADNE [to herself]:
There is a realm where all is pure:
it has a name too: Realm of Death.
[Rises from the ground.]
Here nothing is pure.
All is finished here.

[She pulls her robe close around her.]
But soon a messenger will draw nigh,
Hermes they call him.
With his staff
he rules all souls:
Like birds on the wing,
like dry leaves,
he drives them before him.
Thou beautiful, serene god!
See! Ariadne awaits!

Oh, my heart must be cleansed
of all wild grief,
then your presence will call me,
your footsteps will approach my cave,
darkness will cover my eyes,
your hand will touch my heart.
In the beautiful festal robes
that my mother bequeathed me
my body will remain;
the silent cave will be my tomb.
But mutely my soul
will follow its new lord,
as a light leaf in the wind
flutters downward, gladly falling.
Darkness will cover my eyes
and fill my heart;
this body will remain,
richly adorned and all alone.

You will set me free,
give me to myself,
this burdensome life,
take it from me.
I will lose myself entirely in you;
with you Ariadne will abide.
[She stands lost in thought.]

-- English translation by Peggie Cochrane

Lisa della Casa (s), Ariadne; Berlin Philharmonic, Alberto Erede, cond. EMI, recorded 1959

Christa Ludwig (s), Ariadne; Vienna Philharmonic, Karl Böhm, cond. Live perfomance from the Salzburg Festival, July 26, 1964

Jessye Norman (s), Ariadne; Gewandhaus Orchestra (Leipzig), Kurt Masur, cond. Philips, recorded January 1988


I WAS ALL SET TO GO WITH AN ASSORTMENT OF
PERFORMANCES OF THIS MUCH OF THE OPERA

It's only about 25 minutes, but at this point I think we'd better save that for a future engagement.

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