Strauss: Ariadne auf Naxos

Richard Strauss (Composer), Giuseppe Sinopoli (Conductor), Staatskapelle Dresden (Orchestra), Deborah Voigt (Performer), Natalie Dessay (Performer), Anne Sofie von Otter (Performer), Ben Heppner (Performer), Albert Dohmen (Performer), Romuald Pekny (Performer), Klaus Florian Vogt (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Deborah Voigt, Natalie Dessay, Anne Sofie von Otter, Ben Heppner, Albert Dohmen, et al.
• Orchestra: Staatskapelle Dresden
• Conductor: Giuseppe Sinopoli
• Composer: Richard Strauss
• Audio CD (September 18, 2001)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Deutsche Grammophon
• ASIN: B00005ND47
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #149,381 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A gift horse - don't look it in the mouth!, January 4, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Strauss: Ariadne auf Naxos (Audio CD)

Dedicated Strauss lovers, or those for whom Ariadne is a favourite opera, will naturally have preferences for this or that recording. They will, indeed, presumably have several recordings, each for a different reason. In France, Karajan's EMI version with Schwarzkopf is considered the absolute benchmark ; but many in the UK, for example, find Schwarzkopf mannered and will always remind you that she couldn't sing the role on stage; and there are those (unaccountably perhaps) who believe Seefried couldn't sing a single note right. You might buy Bohm's live for the pleasure of hearing Hilde Guden as Zerbinetta, but have the distinct feeling that it was an off night for the usually peerless Lisa della Casa, whose lower range on this live is disconcertingly reminiscent of Anna Russell parodying Wagner (though I should immediately add that her upper register is as glorious as ever). Jessye Norman's Ariadne, impressive to say the least, is probably one of her best recordings, but as we see elsewhere on this page, Edita Gruberova is not to everyone's taste. There's no satisfying everyone, it seems.

These same Strauss specialists will naturally compare Sinopoli's new version with the others and find good points and bad, depending largely on their taste in conductors and singers. Has Ben Heppner left it a little late to record the role? How well would he, or Von Otter, project in the opera house rather than in front of a microphone? Those who have heard Natalie Dessay live know that recording somehow doesn't do her voice and acting skills justice (although this recording is the best of hers I've yet heard). But let's not look a gift horse in the mouth! In an age of constant complaints that there are no competent singers left and when new versions of operas frequently add nothing whatsoever to the existing catalogue, this set should be welcomed as an outstanding achievement. For the specialists, it will not replace other versions of an opera which, as is often the case with the Strauss "majors," is well served on disc, but it must surely join them for bringing together an exceptional contemporary cast, for the superb achievement (almost an understatement!) of the Dresden players, and for the beautifully detailed recording: listening on headphones, I for one discovered a wealth of detail in the score I'd never heard before.

Presumably many people searching through this web site, rather than being specialists out to compare versions, are looking to buy and get to know Ariadne for the first time, and reading the reviews to see if this is a version they might purchase. The answer, without hesitation, is yes, with this set you cannot go far wrong.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A gem of a recording, June 10, 2008

By 

Ralph Moore "Ralph operaphile" (Bishop's Stortford, UK) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Strauss: Ariadne auf Naxos (Audio CD)

Some of the previous Amazon.com reviews of this set are pretty sour and begrudging - I think you have to be rather spoiled not to appreciate the standard of singing, playing and interpretation in this, Sinopoli's operatic recording swansong. I am not saying that you should endorse it simply because it was the final opera recording of a great conductor; I think it can stand on its own without sentimentality. The "Gramophone" reviewer was similarly snooty about the supposed "coldness" of this interpretation, (even though he admitted that that the cast was as spectacular as you could assemble today) but I don't hear it that way. I love the old Kempe recording of this entrancing opera, with Janowitz, Zylis-Gara and Sylvia Geszty, but not even the divine Gundula can sing the highest notes with the ease and purity that Voigt brings to this majestic role. The orchestra is the same in both recordings and the Staatskapelle is wonderful in both - but the extra clarity and depth of sound in the newer recording really permits the listener to hear the nuances and detail of Sinopoli's direction - and they make such a full, rich sound in those magical closing pages, for a mere thirty players.

As much as I admire James King, he does not bring Ben Heppner's refulgence of tone to the killer tenor role of Bacchus. Heppner and Dessay, like Voigt, almost make it sound easy - and perhaps that is why some reviewers accuse them of being "faceless" in their characterisation. I don't find it so; it's such a pleasure to hear three great voices in top form. Perhaps Dessay is too gentle and seductive as Zerbinetta - a tad more acid would not go amiss - but she is witty and knowing, as she should be. The supporting roles are beautifully taken, too; Von Otter sounds more vivid than I have heard her elsewhere; there is an artist whom I admit to finding bland, sometimes - but not here. Particularly fine are Stefan Genz's pointed, elegant singing as Harlekin and Albert Dohmen's rich tones as the Music Master.

I am no fan of Schwarzkopf's mannered, overpointed style and the old Karajan recording is mono, so you cannot enjoy the orchestra colours as fully as in this atmospheric DG set. I love the 1968 Kempe account, mainly for the creamy, soaring purity of Janowitz and Zylis-Gara's adorable Composer, and would not be without it - but this is the best recommendation if you want one set only.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Luxurious, Perfect Ariadne, April 11, 2007

By 

The Cultural Observer - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Strauss: Ariadne auf Naxos (Audio CD)

I don't understand why some reviewers would give this magnificent recording less than five stars, because the cast, the conductor, and the orchestra are caught at the top of their game! Even if Giuseppe Sinopoli were replaced by a lesser conductor and the orchestra had been the Bavarian Radio or the RAI Symphony, the vocal forces assembled around this Ariadne are simply sensational! Best of the lot is Deborah Voigt's Ariadne, who is in my opinion the best soprano to have ever sung the part. It lacks the self-conscious, academic interpretation of Schwarzkopf and the indulgent jazz swoops of Jessye Norman, but that is all for the better considering how Voigt gets into the part of the character. Her luscious, silvery, creamy voice works wonders for the part of the prima donna, and her Ariadne is sung with a sense of Grecian abandon unheard in sopranos before her. I would say that this perhaps is the best recording of her discography, and brava to Deborah Voigt for making a specialty out of this role!

Voigt is partnered by the likes of Ben Heppner, Dessay, Von Otter, and Dohmen, artists of a prime calibre who are able to bring an interpretive grain to their music. Ben Heppner's large, heroic timbre fits Bacchus' high-lying, difficult music perfectly, and it is wonderful to know that he has finally overcome that vocal crisis of his so that he can once again share that voice of his with us. I don't think I've ever heard Bacchus sung better by any tenor except James King. Natalie Dessay is a three-dimensional Zerbinetta with sexiness, naughtiness, and warmth, and she is also equipped with all the coloratura in the world to perform the part's difficult pyrotechnics. Her transformation in the opera is a portrayal of this great artist's skill in turning this essentially cardboard role into a character full of life, wisdom, and compassion. I would take her Zerbinetta any day over Gruberova! Von Otter is sensational as the Composer, her chiaroscuro timbre portraying the polar temperament of this character. Although she would never erase the memories of Tatiana Troyanos, von Otter is nonetheless a prime interpreter of the part with a knack for uncovering the dramatic nuances of the part. Albert Dohmen is a vocally endowed music-master, better than the dry-voiced Fischer-Dieskau in his recording with Masur.

Of course, this recording would not achieve its legendary status without Sinopoli and the Dresden forces, perhaps the greatest Straussian orchestra in the world. Sinopoli conducts the score with outstanding clarity, movement, and verve, every instrument speaking out of the pages with an Italianate passion that only he could bring to the score. Oh that we would hope that he had lived longer to conduct Die Liebe der Danae with this team!

In short, this recording is highly recommended!