Ariadne auf Naxos Music Center, Los Angeles
By Allan Ulrich
Published: September 15 2004 03:00 | Last updated: September 15 2004 03:00

William Friedkin's mounting of the Strauss-von Hoffmannsthal comedy handsomely and wittily confirms the general director Plácido Domingo's belief that an enlightened opera aficionado or two lurks in the Hollywood film colony, ready to contribute to the Los Angeles Opera's burgeoning stockpile of original productions.

The Academy Award-winning director of The French Connection has proved to be a resourceful and musically sophisticated guide through this oddly constructed piece, in which the backstage shenanigans of the prologue yield to the simultaneous performances of a dour mythological opera seria and a commedia dell'arte diversion.

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[A gallery of press photos of this production is available here]