Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos at the Salzburg Festival 2026
Kate Lindsey (The Composer), Christina Nilsson (Ariadne), Ziyi Dai (Zerbinetta) — Ersan Mondtag (stage director), Manfred Honeck (conductor)
Cast
Ersan Mondtag — Stage director, stage sets and costumes
Franck Evin — Lighting
Alexander Pannier — Video
Ashley Alexandra Wright — Choreographer
Till Briegleb — Dramaturgy
Kate Lindsey — The composer
Christina Nilsson — Prima donna / Ariadne
Eric Cutler — Tenor / Bacchus
Program notes
Opera seria meets commedia dell'arte in the opera-within-an-opera machinations of Richard Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos at the 2026 Salzburg Festival, featuring Kate Lindsey en travesti as the Composer — a role in which her "gleaming tone, dramatic subtlety and palpable commitment" (The Guardian) have won wide praise — plus Christina Nilsson as Ariadne, Eric Cutler as the Tenor, and Ziyi Dai in the high-flying coloratura role of Zerbinetta! Strauss and librettist Hugo von Hofmannsthal, originally inspired by Molière's Le bourgeois gentilhomme, revised the first version of Ariadne auf Naxos to the now-beloved one seen here, treating us to an irresistible mix of high and low art, Greek tragedy and Italian farce, and a skewering of hoity-toity Viennese upper classes of the early 20th century. The great Manfred Honeck leads the Vienna Philharmonic in Strauss's lively score, with Ersan Mondtag's bold staging allowing the all-star vocal cast to shine.
Photo © Yulia Oliver-Taylor