Description:

Pros:

• Italian Radio organized a team comprised of a (mostly) American cast, an Italian orchestra and a German conductor for this performance of Ariadne auf Naxos.
• In the title role, Johanna Meier brings the perfect blend of Wagnerian heft and Mozartian nuance.
• James King’s stentorian tenor was made for Strauss. He is particularly stunning, however, in the more lyrical passages like his brief aria “Du schönes Wesen!”
• Julia Varady makes an excellent argument for why the role of the composer should be cast with a soprano, particularly during the extactic last moments of the prologue.
• As Zerbinetta, Patricia Wise manages to nail the coloratura in her aria, as well as offer some voluptously spun vocal lines during the Zerbinetta/Composer duet at the end of the prologue.
• A young Lella Cuberli sings the role of Echo.

Cons:

• None to mention.

In Mono

OD 11687-2