L'abandon d'Ariane explained

French: L'abandon d'Ariane
Composer:Darius Milhaud
Image Upright:0.8
Librettist:Henri Hoppenot
Based On:Ariadne myth
Language:French
Premiere Location:Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden

French: L'abandon d'Ariane (The Abandonment of Ariane or, in German, Die Verlassene Ariadne), Op. 98, is an opera in one act by Darius Milhaud to a French libretto by Henri Hoppenot, based on Greek mythology. It is the second of three Opéras-Minutes (Mini-Operas) that Milhaud composed. It came between L'Enlèvement d'Europe, Op. 94, and La Délivrance de Thésée, Op. 99, with librettos also by Henri Hoppenot (1891–1977), a French diplomat. The three operas together last about twenty-seven minutes.

Performance history

The first performance of the trilogy - L'Enlèvement d'Europe, L'Abandon d'Ariane and La Délivrance de Thésée - was at the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden, Germany, on 20 April 1928. These performances were given in a German translation by Rudolph Stephan Hoffmann.

L'Abandon d'Ariane has been recorded several times; however, it is rarely performed live.

Roles

RoleVoice typePremiere Cast, 20 April 1928
(Conductor: Joseph Rosenstock)
Ariadne, princess of Crete
Dionysos, god of winebaritone
Phädra, Ariadne's younger sistersoprano
Theseus, Greek herotenor
Bacchantes, sailors chorus

External links