Ariadne in Rome: David Hermann’s Strauss staging highlights contrasts

Axelle Fanyo (Ariadne)

Ziyi Dai (Zerbinetta) and Angela Brower (Composer)

Karl Huml (Truffaldino), Matteo Ivan Rašić (Scaramuccio) and Axelle Fanyo (Ariadne)

Tuomas Katajala (The Tenor) and Adrian Eröd (Music Master)

By Pia Maltri, 04 March 2026

Loading, please wait...

See full listing

“a dazzling performance of the extreme scena ‘Großmächtige Prinzessin’”

Reviewed at Teatro Costanzi, Teatro dell'Opera, Rome on 1 March 2026

Strauss R., Ariadne auf Naxos

Teatro dell'Opera di Roma

Maxime Pascal, Conductor

David Hermann, Director

Jo Schramm, Set Designer

Michaela Barth, Costume Designer

Fabrice Kebour, Lighting Designer

Orchestra del Teatro dell'Opera di Roma

Coro del Teatro dell'Opera di Roma

Axelle Fanyo, The Primadonna (Ariadne)

Tuomas Katajala, The Tenor (Bacchus)

Angela Brower, Composer

Ziyi Dai, Zerbinetta

Adrian Eröd, Music Master

Dan Karlström, Dancing Master

Äneas Humm, Harlequin

Matteo Ivan Rašić, Scaramuccio

Karl Huml, Truffaldino

Manuel Günther, Brighella

Jessica Ricci, Naiad

Michela Guerrera, Dryad

Sofia Barbashova, Echo

Charles Morillon, The Major-Domo

Lukáš Zeman, Wigmaker

Giovanni Di Deo, Officer

Daju Xu, Lackey

Handel’s Il trionfo del tempo e del disinganno returns to Rome

Pia Maltri, 7th April

Robert Carsen’s staging of Handel's oratorio arrives, via Salzburg, in the city where Handel composed it in 1707.

****1

Abandon all hope: Lucia Ronchetti's Inferno receives Italian premiere

Pia Maltri, 19th February

The Italian premiere of Lucia Ronchetti’s Inferno at the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma uses Dante’s original verses, but her score fails to match their beauty.

***11

Livermore’s successful Bohème opens at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma

Pia Maltri, 14th January

Originally staged at the Caracalla Baths in 2014, Davide Livermore’s production comes in from the cold.

****1

Wagner’s Lohengrin finally returns – swanless – to Rome

Pia Maltri, 27th November

Damiano Michieletto is entrusted with the first staging of Lohengrin in Rome for 50 years, but his distracting staging is redeemed by the musical side of things.

***11

Peter Sellars directs Italian debut of Kaija Saariaho’s Adriana Mater

Pia Maltri, 11th October

This co-production, previously seen in San Francisco, is more of a semi-staging, convinces thanks to committed performances from a cast led by Fleur Barron.

****1

Deborah Warner directs a memorable Turn of the Screw in Rome

Pia Maltri, 19th September

Following her Billy Budd and Peter Grimes, Deborah Warner directs a third Britten opera at the Teatro Costanzi.

****1

More reviews...

Pia Maltri

Pia first fell head over heels for opera when she was a teenager by listening to recordings of some of the great voices of the past: Maria Callas, Giuseppe Di Stefano, Mirella Freni, Alfredo Kraus. She holds a degree in Italian Literature and she lives in Rome.