One need not know anything about opera seria nor 17th century Italian comedy to appreciate the interactions between the disdainful, condescending major domo (a speaking role, beautifully realized by Jon Kolbet) with the artistic professionals he regards as mere hirelings. The joy of the “Ariadne” prologue is that its comic themes are universal. In the opera’s prologue we also meet the opera seria‘s stars (the soprano playing Ariadne and tenor playing Bacchus) and the comedy’s dancing performers (Zerbinetta, Harlequin and the other members of the dancing troop). The prologue introduces the creators of both the opera seria (its composer and his teacher, the Music Master, played by John Fanning) and the comedy (the dancing master, played by Rodell Rosel). Even in the Brown Theater one would expect many of its patrons to be unfamiliar with the work, yet, with Strauss’ richly melodic score, Hofmannsthal’s absorbing plot, Cox’s brilliant production and a world class cast, to find the work to be imminently accessible and enjoyable. Perhaps the Richest Man’s guests would have limited knowledge of the traditions of the artistic styles being merged, but still might have enjoyed the result. There are, of course, two intended audiences – the one incorporated into the “Ariadne auf Naxos” plot – the guests attending a dinner and subsequent entertainments of the “richest man in Vienna” – and the real life one assembled at the Brown Theater within Houston’s Wortham Theater Center. A 17th century opera seria and a light Italian comedy in the commedia dell’ arte tradition must be performed simultaneously to accommodate a sharply reduced amount of time allocated to the two performances.

The plot of “Ariadne” concerns the juxtaposition of two seemingly irreconcilable artistic styles.

The physical production of John Cox’ masterwork is owned by the Lyric Opera of Chicago (which itself will mount it in Fall 2011 with an entirely different cast). Houston Grand Opera’s British general director, Anthony Freud, introduced Houston audiences last year to Sir Nicholas Hytner’s imaginative production of Handel’s “Xerxes”, starring Susan Graham and Laura Claycomb (see “Xerxes” Unexcelled – Houston Grand Opera, May, 2, 2010).įor the weekend of the Royal Wedding, in which American interest in the cultural affairs of London was heightened, Freud brought the work of another British artist to East Texas, production designer and stage director John Cox, to revive his classic production of Richard Strauss’ intricately clever presentation of Richard Strauss’ tragicomedy “Ariadne auf Naxos”, again starring Graham and Claycomb.

Houston grand opera ariadne