Appearances in opera, concert, and recital by the Grammy Award winning American soprano Christine Brewer are marked by her unique timbre, at once warm and brilliant, combined with a vibrant personality and emotional honesty reminiscent of the great sopranos of the past. Her range, golden tone, boundless power, and control make her a favourite of the stage as well as a sought-after recording artist.

On the opera stage, she has made a speciality of the late romantic repertoire and of Richard Strauss in particular. The title role in Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos is one of her most famous roles, even her ‘signature’ role, and she has taken her striking portrayal of it to The Metropolitan Opera (her debut, in 2003), Opéra de Lyon, Châtelet Théâtre musical de Paris, Santa Fe Opera, English National Opera, and Opera Theater of St Louis.

Sir Richard Armstrong has long been regarded as one of the UK’s leading opera conductors, who has made a speciality of performing works from the late romantic era and the twentieth-century repertoire.

First performed in 1912, Ariadne auf Naxos was Strauss’s first chamber opera, written consciously in emulation of classical style. In the prologue, singers and dancers hired to entertain a rich man’s guests are told that they have to combine their performances so that the evening’s firework display will not be delayed. This prologue introduces the ‘composer’ of Ariadne, one of the great comic roles in a Strauss opera, as well as the overweening Major-Domo, overseeing proceedings, played to perfection in this recording by Stephen Fry. The opera which follows is the story of Ariadne, who is heart-broken that her lover, Theseus, has abandoned her, and Bacchus who consoles her. It is music of great yearning beauty and genuine depth; indeed, the role of Ariadne is one of the great soprano roles in opera.

This is the first time that Christine Brewer has recorded her superb interpretation of the part in a complete recording of the opera, and the first time that this opera has been recorded sung in English. With an all-star cast, the recording is a major addition to the Chandos Opera in English catalogue. As a bonus, the orchestral suite from Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme, Op. 60, is also included. The music was written for a play to be performed before the opera Ariadne auf Naxos, but it was felt that the play, followed by an opera would make for too long an evening. Strauss later wrote a new prologue for the opera (the one we are now used to) and arranged this suite from the incidental music to the play. It shows Strauss at his most delightful – the eighteenth-century flavour reflected in the fact that Strauss based Nos 5 – 7 on airs by Jean-Baptiste Lully who had provided the music for Molière’s original play.

Artists

Christine Brewer (Ariadne/Prima Donna), Robert Dean Smith (Bacchus/The Tenor), Alice Coote (Composer), Gillian Keith (Zerbinetta), Stephen Fry (Major-Domo), Alan Opie (Music Master), John Graham-Hall (Dancing Master/Scaramuccio), Roderick Williams (Harlequin), Matthew Rose (Truffaldino), Wynne Evans (Brighella), Paul Keohone (Wig-Maker), Dean Robinson (Footman), Declan McCusker (An Officer)

Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Sir Richard Armstrong