Arianna (Goehr)
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| Arianna | |
|---|---|
| Opera by Alexander Goehr | |
 The composer in 2007 | |
| Librettist | Ottavio Rinuccini |
| Language | Italian |
| Based on | Libretto for L'Arianna |
| Premiere | |
Arianna is an opera in eight scenes by the English composer Alexander Goehr, premiered at the Royal Opera House in London in 1995. It is set to the libretto (in Italian), by Ottavio Rinuccini that was used by Claudio Monteverdi in his 1608 lost opera, L'Arianna. The opera is Goehr's Op. 58.
Although Rinuccini's libretto survives, the greater part of Monteverdi's music for the opera, originally performed in Mantua in 1608, has been lost. All that remains is Arianna's lament, a solo aria which Monteverdi published separately in 1623. Goehr sets most (but not all) of the original libretto, (which is based on the classical story of Ariadne and Theseus from Ovid's Heroides), preserving the lament but interspersing it with choral episodes. The orchestration is contemporary, including contrabassoon, saxophone, Akai sampler and electric guitar, as is the harmonic language.[1]
Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere cast 15 September 1995 (Conductor: Ivor Bolton) (Director: Francesca Zambello)[2] |
|---|---|---|
| Arianna | mezzo-soprano | Susan Graham |
| Amore | soprano | Anna Maria Panzarella |
| Venere/Dorilla | contralto | Sheila Nadler |
| Teseo | tenor | J. Patrick Raftery |
| Bacco | countertenor | Axel Köhler |
| Giove | bass | Gidon Saks |
| Consigliero | baritone | David Wilson-Johnson |
| Soldato Primo/Pescatore | tenor | Timothy Robinson |
| Soldato Secondo/Pescatore | tenor | Christopher Ventris |
