Ariadne auf Naxos

While scored for a chamber orchestra, Strauss’s spellbinding tragicomedy Ariadne auf Naxos nonetheless calls for vocal and theatrical forces of epic proportions—which are on full display in this 2022 Live in HD performance. Hailed by The New York Times for possessing a voice with “almost physical presence—pressing against your chest, raising the hairs on the back of your neck,” Norwegian soprano Lise Davidsen delivers a career-defining performance in the title role, going head to head with stratospheric soprano Brenda Rae as her comic foil, Zerbinetta. Leading heldentenor Brandon Jovanovich is the mythic hero Bacchus, and mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard is the Composer of the opera within an opera around which the story revolves. Maestro Marek Janowski takes the podium to lead Elijah Moshinsky’s stunning production, which also features baritone Sean Michael Plumb as Harlekin, baritone Johannes Martin Kränzle as the Music Master, and baritone Wolfgang Brendel in a cameo appearance as the Major-Domo.