In Review > North America
Ariadne auf Naxos
CHICAGO
Lyric Opera of Chicago
11/19/11
Ariadne in Chicago, with Deonarine, Barton, Wagner, Riemer and Jovanovich
© Dan Rest 2012
Lyric Opera's revival of Richard Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos (seen Nov. 19) drew particularly keen anticipation from Chicago audiences, due to Amber Wagner's assumption of the title role. A graduate of Lyric's Ryan Opera Center, Wagner made a fine impression as Elsa in Lohengrin last season and subsequently won raves for her Ariadne in Toronto. Her soprano proved very beautiful in this music — rangy and opulent, with a generous dollop of timbral cream that remained buttery-smooth from the lowest register (a telling "Totenreich" in Ariadne's lament) to the gleaming top required for the final duet. In her confident performance, she deftly captured both the Prima Donna's arrogance and Ariadne's vulnerability. Wagner is a young woman, and experience will undoubtedly bring more interpretive shading — but she is the real deal.
Alice Coote revealed a wealth of expressive dynamics and an arrestingly beautiful, floated top in the Composer's "Du, Venus' Sohn, gibst süssen Lohn." Her perceptive, convincingly masculine characterization of the conflicted young idealist was heartrending. Brandon Jovanovich reveled in his double turn as the narcissistic Tenor (the guy gargled and obliviously spit on the floor) and an impossibly handsome and clarion-toned Bacchus. This is a big sing, and the tenor handled it with distinction and great intelligence, despite a brief patch of fatigue in its final measures. As Zerbinetta, Anna Christy created an adorable coquette who clearly felt something more than she bargained for in her encounter with the Composer. Christy perhaps just missed the ultimate dazzle of the writing in the rondo (a snatched breath was taken on the top E that Zerbinetta should perch upon, which is a time-honored compromise), but she offered liquid trills, and her tone remained rounded and glittering throughout her range.
Matthew Worth's lovely lyric baritone was a trifle light in Lyric's vast space, but he was lively onstage, and his Harlekin complemented an amusing cadre of comedians. René Barbera was a dulcet and pealing Brighella, James Kryshak's crystalline tenor (and killer cartwheel) made for a charming Scaramuccio, and Wilbur Pauley was a predictably effective Truffaldino. Nymphs Nili Riemer, Kiri Deonarine and Jamie Barton intoned an exquisite "Töne, töne, süsse Stimme." Standouts among the large ensemble in the Prologue included Eike Wilm Schulte as the Music Master, Edward Mout's effete Dancing Master and Paul Scholten's Wigmaker. David Holloway voiced the spoken role of the pompous Major-domo expertly.
Ariadne trades in nuance and is difficult to pull off in a big house. The excellent John Cox production remains a winner, with its quicksilver presentation of a politically charged seventeenth-century backstage milieu, as visually rendered through Robert Perdziola's enchanting settings and bright period costumes. A naughty peek at the Tenor's offstage panic before sailing triumphantly on as Bacchus was great fun, as were the "fireworks" suggested by an assemblage of sparkling candelabra that floated airily upward as Duane Schuler's lighting fined away to darkness.
The standard Boosey & Hawkes edition was performed, with no cuts. Andrew Davis gracefully led the thirty-nine-piece orchestra. Andrea Swan, Elizabeth Buccheri and Pete Labella ably manned the various keyboards. 
MARK THOMAS KETTERSON
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