"Ariadne auf Naxos : Moshinsky, Levine / MET Opera, Voigt, Dessay, W.Brendel, Kmentt, etc (2003 Stereo)"

Richard Strauss: Ariadne auf Naxos
Libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal

Wolfgang Brendel (The Music Master), Waldemar Kmentt (The Major-Domo)
James Courtney (A Lackey), Mark Schowalter (An Officer)
Susanne Mentzer (The Composer), Richard Margison (Bacchus, The Tenor)
John Fiorito (A Wigmaker), Natalie Dessay (Zerbinetta)
Deborah Voigt (Ariadne, The Prima Donna), Tony Stevenson (The Dancing Master)
Nathan Gunn (Harlekin), John Nuzzo (Brighella)
Eric Cutler (Scaramuccio), John Del Carlo (Truffaldin)
Joyce Guyer (Najade), Jossie Perez (Dryade) & Alexandra Deshorties (Echo)
The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus / James Levine, conductor

Production Elijah Moshinsky
stage director: Laurie Feldman
Set and Costume Designer: Michael Yeargan
Lighting Designer: Gil Wechsler

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. ( EMI )