ARIADNE aUF NAXOS

by Richard Strauss

Presenting internationally renowned Tenor Richard Margison to the stage for Calgary Opera’s first-ever production of Ariadne auf Naxos and a return of internationally acclaimed Sopranos Wendy Nielsen and Tracy Dahl

Saturday, January 31, 2009 8pm
Wednesday, February 4, 2009 7:30pm
Friday, February 6, 2009 8pm

Jubilee Auditorium

Sung in German with English translation projected above the stage

This larger-than-life comedy first performed in Stutggart in 1912 is a lively opera within an opera that tells the tale of the Greek mythological figure, Ariadne, who has awoken after a long sleep to discover that she has been abandoned by her lover on the island of Naxos. When the characters in Ariadne auf Naxos are put to the task of telling Ariadne’s story, the end result is a delightful union of the opera buffa and opera seria traditions. Both Greek mythological figures and jesting characters from the Italian Commedia Dell’Arte come together on one stage for a raucous and entertaining presentation.