Metropolitan Opera Archives

Ariadne auf Naxos received eight performances this season.

Review 1:

Review of Conrad S. Susa in Musical America
As the inappropriateness of “Ariadne” to a house the size of the Met; the
charming sets, the diffuse staging and poor lighting have all been mentioned in these columns in the review of the premiere last season, there remains only to comment upon five newcomers in the first performance this season, which took place on Christmas night: Teresa Stratas, as the Composer; Russell Christopher, as the Wigmaker; Gladys Kuchta, as Ariadne; Joy Clements, as Echo; and Silvio Varviso as the conductor in the pit.

Miss Stratas has a beautiful voice and sang beautifully, but I wished I could have understood her words. The Met presents the Prologue in English and the Opera in German, something of an esthetic blunder. By the time one began to decipher the English the German was already going. Miss Stratas was not the only unintelligible singer, but since she had so much to do, one must complain.

The parts of the Wigmaker and Echo are not particularly grateful to the performer and have a tendency to get swallowed in the rest of the action, so it must be to the credit of Mr. Christopher and Miss Clements that they did well, if only because they didn't get in the way.

Miss Kuchta showed more sensitivity in this role than she had in previous ones this season. Her galloping vibrato and fondness for the sharp side of pitches were less in evidence. She has not yet learned to move without throwing herself backwards first—a manner resembling the coilings of a spring — nor has she become a very interesting actress, but her voice is good, and the care she showed in this performance was welcome indeed.

Silvio Varviso was the one culprit of the evening. He caused the music's tension to evaporate into frothy wisps. Gone too was the excitement of the interweaving of vocal and orchestral lines that is so much a part of Strauss' style. This opera is about people, no matter how silly they are, and when believability is not cultivated the whole evening becomes shallow and false. With Mr. Varviso concentrating on the trimmings, the opera steadily lost interest of both audience and performers, resulting in the flattest ending an opera could possibly have. I am usually annoyed when the audience begins leaving during the final scenes, but this time I couldn't blame them.

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