This live recording of Ariadne auf Naxos in October 2014 not only
took  place  at  the  site  of  the  premiere  of  the  opera’s  revised
version, but also marked Christian Thielemann’s first conducting
engagement for a Strauss opera at the opera house on the Ring.
The cast includes Soile Isokoski (Ariadne), Johan Botha (Bachus),
in  one  of  his  last  performances  before  his  untimely  death,
Daniela Fally (Zerbinetta), Sophie Koch (the composer), Jochen
Schmeckenbecher  (the  music  teacher)  and  Peter  Mati   (the
dancing master).
Strauss’  first  version  of  Ariadne  was  intended  to  follow  a
performance  of  Molière’s  Le  Bourgeois  gentilhomme;  for  this
reason, the premiere was six hours long and many in the audience
felt that they had just attended a first-rate funeral. Clearly, the
work needed some restructuring: Molière’s play was replaced by
the Prologue, and premiered four years later on 4 October 1916
at Vienna’s Court Opera (today’s State Opera).