Reisopera can continue for four years and celebrates that with humorous ‘Ariadne auf Naxos’

Looking for a crash course in opera? With opera-within-an-opera Ariadne auf Naxos by Richard Strauss you get two for the price of one: a farcical show by the sunny Zerbinetta and her male quartet versus a serious opera about the death wish of Ariadne, left behind by her beloved Theseus. The two performances are sandwiched between dinner and a fireworks show at a party evening for the ‘richest man in Vienna’ and their patrons have ordered them to be performed at the same time, with all the commotion that entails.

Artists who are at the mercy of their financier: how symbolic of the quadrennial dance that companies in the Cultural Basic Infrastructure do to maintain their government subsidies. The Dutch Reisopera, which celebrates its seventieth anniversary this year, narrowly secured funding until 2028. Just before Christmas, the company received the green light from the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science.

Double celebration on this premiere evening Ariadne auf NaxosSaturday in the Enschede Wilminktheater. The production is brand new and is directed by the Swedish Sofia Jupither (1974), who is making her Dutch debut. Can Jupiter manage to put meat on the bones of the prologue, in which no fewer than sixteen characters get in each other’s way?

The answer is yes, and with a lot of humor. The Wigmaker with an Elvis haircut (baritone Fabian Homburg) is in a witty clinch with Ariadne (soprano Annemarie Kremer) and Theseus (tenor Daniel Frank). The speaking role of Der Haushofmeister, for which an elderly actor is often called upon, is filled by the young Dutch actor Kharim Amier, who portrays the refined chamberlain with comic condescension. The two rival opera clubs sit around like cliques leering at each other and handing out pinpricks. Soprano Dorottya Láng (simple black suit) convincingly embodies Der Komponist, who would rather throw the notes of his Ariadne into the fire than have to mark them with a red pen. Yet his melancholy disappears like snow in the sun during the flirtation of Zerbinetta (soprano Juliana Zara), dressed in a candy pink burlesque costume with a feathered back part.

Opulence and flair

Strauss’ chamber music score, which constantly switches between romantic opulence à la Wagner and entertainment music with playful flair, benefits from an orchestral sound that comes out sharply, so that the clash between seriousness and light-heartedness is given musical body. At the premiere, Phion’s performance under conductor Jac van Steen is still too tame to get this off the ground. It doesn’t help that the singing and orchestral part regularly diverge, meaning that Strauss’s musical gestures often lack their effect. When Strauss stirs up the drama after the break, the orchestra sounds more convincing.

Then it is also up to Annemarie Kremer to help the audience cross the threshold into Ariadne’s mythological world with soulful solos. That works very well, even if the comedians keep interrupting her to shape the performance to their liking. Zerbinetta’s long-awaited exuberant aria Great Princess finds an enchanting performer in the American Juliana Zara: with her costume glittering in the spotlight, she flutters like a swallow from one coloratura to the next. What an enrichment that the Reisopera tours the provinces with such vocal highlights.

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