ARIANE (Martinu) Prague 1992 Celina Lindsley, Vladimir Dolezal, Richard Novak
Information on the Performance
- Work Title: Ariane  
- Composer: Martinu Bohuslav  
- Libretto: Bohuslav Martinu drawn from the second, third and fourth acts of the 1943 play by Georges Neveux, Le Voyage de Thésée,    Libretto Text, Libretto Index
- Venue & Opera Company: Prague State Opera, Czech Republic  
- Recorded: 1992
- Type: Staged Opera Live
- Singers: Celina Lindsley, Vladimir Dolezal, Richard Novak, Vele Ludek, Miroslav Kopp, Norman Phillips
- Conductor: Vaclav Neumann  
- Orchestra: Czech Philharmonic Orchestra  
- Chorus: Prague Philharmonic Chorus  
- Chorus Master: Lubomir Matl  
- Stage Director: Tomas Simerda  
- Costume Designer: Josef Jelinek  
- Lighting Designer: Karel Zavadil  
Information about the Recording
- Published by: EuroArts  
- TV Director: Tomas Simerda  
- Format: Broadcast
- Quality Video: 4 Audio:4
- Subtitles: nosubs  
- This Recording is NOT AVAILABLE from a proper commercial or public source
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THIS PERFORMANCE
Synopsis from Wikipedia:
The story is a surrealist version of the myth of Theseus, Ariadne, and the Minotaur.
In this version of the myth, the Minotaur and Theseus look alike – and Theseus discerns part of his own personality in the monster; by killing it he destroys his love for Ariadne.
Prologue – Sinfonia 1
The Watchman learns of the arrival in Knossos of Thésée and his companions from a passing seagull.
Scene 1
Thésée seeks the Minotaur and encounters Ariane. In an ambiguous conversation they seem to fall in love – but Ariane’s love may be in fact for the Minotaur. The Old Man announces that the king’s daughter is to be married to a stranger. Ariane reveals that she is the king’s daughter and Thésée is the stranger – and asks for his name.
Scene 2
After a second sinfonia, Bouroun is dissatisfied that Thésée’s infatuation with Ariane is preventing him from killing the Minotaur. Resolving to do the deed himself, he is killed by the Minotaur (offstage). When the Minotaur appears, he turns out to be Theseus’s double, and taunts him – “who dares lift his hand to strike himself a death-blow?”. Thésée slays the Minotaur however.
Scene 3
A third sinfonia separates the scenes. Thésée and his companions desert Ariane, whose lyrical lament closes the opera.
The whole opera, including the three miniature sinfonias which introduce and punctuate it, lasts little more than 40 minutes (of which Ariane’s lament takes about 9).