Customer Reviews

Strauss - Ariadne auf Naxos [Highlights]

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Viorica Ursuleac established her reputation as one of the greatest Strauss operatic sopranos. Born into a musical family, it was Queen Marie of Romania who facilitated her move towards an international career. Ursuleac later married the great Austrian conductor Clemens Krauss, thus beginning a legendary collaboration.

Krauss directed many of Ursuleac's performances, including the world premieres of no less than four of Richard Strauss' operas: Arabella (in 1933), Capriccio (Strauss' greatest opera where she sung the Countess at the premiere scheduled for October 28, 1942 in Munich at the National Theatre), Friedenstag (dedicated to her and Krauss), and Der Liebe der Danae (creating Danae at a 1944 Salzburg dress rehearsal - theater closings delayed the actual premiere until 1952).

Richard Strauss once described Ursuleac as the "truest of the true" in interpreting his great soprano roles. This 1935 Berlin recording of "Ariadne auf Naxos" (sans prologue) shows abundantly why he had such an enormous belief in her.

Recorded in 1935, without the prologue, this is a superlative performance of Ariadne auf Naxos, by a cast that knows what they are singing. I have five complete recordings of this opera and they all pale beside this performance. I heard music that I have never heard in Ariadne before, because Clemens Krauss approaches this opera as it should be approached -- as a chamber opera. Too many conductors treat Ariadne in a pseudo-Wagnerian manner and they completely obliterate the marvelous nuances that are in the score. Where Karajan and Kempe plow through the score, Krauss brings out all of the subtleties. As a consequence, Strauss' climaxes are breathtaking. The soloists are uniformly good, and like Krauss, know this music like the back of their hands. Ursuleac is radiant and doesn't have to sing like Brunnhilde, because of Krauss' approach to the score. The Commedia del arte troupe actually enjoys what they are singing, and I have never heard every note! Karl Hammes (a famous Don Giovanni) as Harlekin is simply the best interpreter of this role on record -- he not only sings every note assigned to his role, his diction is superb and he really has fun with the part. The sound is what you would expect from 1935, but the performance is such that any lover of Ariadne (and their are legion) cannot miss this recording! Five stars all round!

There are two brilliant recordings of Ariadne captured on Strauss's birthday, June 11 - the 1944 Böhm and this magnificent radio broadcast from 1935 with Clemens Krauss. This recording sat on my shelf for years after I'd played it once. Having long ago decided incorrectly that the sound was unbearable and Ursuleac's voice wasn't good enough, I finally pulled it out for another hearing after going through a recent Ariadne binge. What a shock it was to hear the stupendous conducting of Clemens Krauss, who, in spite of the limitations of 1935 sound brought out details, beauty, and dramatic excitement that I had not heard in any of my other numerous recordings of this masterpiece.

This is not really a highlights disc, as it is stated on Amazon. It is a complete recording of the opera, the second part of the work, omitting the prelude (unfortunately). But let us rejoice over what we do have. Rosvaenge is a Bacchus of supreme dramatic power, matched by Ursuleac's musicality, both supported by the peerless conducting of her husband, Clemens Krauss. There are other Ariadnes with good singing, but most are flawed by either self-conscious conducting (Sinopoli and Kempe) or inadequate singing (Price with Solti). I find the celebrated Karajan to be stodgy, stilted, and humorless to the point of being unlistenable. Only Karl Böhm seems to have the excitement and dramatic flair that Krauss exhibited - both conductors were close with Strauss and were steeped in his idiom. Another stellar recording of Böhm's Ariadne was captured in 1954 with Rudolf Schock and Lisa della Casa. Ariadne seems to benefit from a live performance, when the artists can expand before an audience.

The entrance of Bacchus - "Circe, Circe" (pronounced differently by various tenors -) is the litmus test for an effective Ariadne. This launches the love duet that concludes the opera, and if well sung and conducted effectively, is the point of departure for the listener into the ecstatic realms that Strauss intended for us. While the coloratura spectacular Grossmachtige Prinzessa is a delicious treat, the dramatic finale between soprano and tenor is the ultimate transcendental operatic experience.

There is a cleaned up version of this performance available from Pristine. While it gets rid of the static, it also removes the presence and the audibility of the singers. In spite of the crackly sound, there is a vividness and dramatic punch to this Preiser release. There are also two wonderful video performances conducted by Böhm. The earlier is at the Salzburg Festival with Reri Grist's outstanding Zerbinetta and Sena Jurinac's luminous Composer. It's marred by the inadequate and sorry Ariadne of Hildegard Hillebrecht, who stood in for Christa Ludwig (what a loss). A later, beautiful filmed version features Gundala Janowitz as Plato's Perfect Ariadne, but her partner, Rene Kollo, is not up to the demands of Bacchus. To my ears, the greatest Bacchus is Helge Rosvaenge, followed by a youthful Max Lorenz in Böhm's 1944 live performance, and Rudolf Schock in the live Böhm from 1954.