Strauss: Ariadne Auf Naxos / Dessay, Levine, Met

Deborah Voigt / Natalie Dessay / Susanne Mentzer / Richard Margison / Wolfgang Brendel / The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus, James Levine

Strauss: Ariadne Auf Naxos

Recorded in 2003 at New York's Metropolitan Opera, this sumptuous production of Ariadne auf Naxos presents divas Deborah Voigt and Natalie Dessay in the contrasting roles which embody the opera’s themes: the deserted princess Ariadne, a ‘one-man woman’ who believes in loyalty unto death, and the flirtatious comedienne Zerbinetta, who takes a more pragmatic attitude to love and to life.
The noble, soaring lines of Ariadne gave Voigt a major breakthrough in 1991, when she sang the role in Boston, and it subsequently became her signature role. Zerbinetta exemplifies the dizzy coloratura characters which first made Dessay’s reputation.