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Dictionary definition: Ariadne auf Naxos
- Article from:
- The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Opera
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Copyright© The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Opera 1996, originally published by Oxford University Press 1996. (Hide copyright information)
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Ariadne auf Naxos (
Ariadne on Naxos
).
Opera in 1 act, later with a scenic prelude, by Richard Strauss; text by Hofmannsthal. Originally intended to follow Molière's comédie-ballet,
Le bourgeois gentilhomme
(1670), for which Strauss had written incidental music: in this form, prem. Stuttgart 25 Oct. 1912, cond. Strauss. Second version prem. Vienna, H, 4 Oct. 1916.
The work's first form was impracticable, requiring both a theatrical and an operatic company for the same evening. The second, operatic, version substitutes for Molière's play a prologue in which word is sent from the ‘bourgeois gentilhomme’, who has engaged an opera company and a
commedia ...