Wiener Staatsoper Oct. 22, Filippo Sanjust directing, Giuseppe Sinopoli conducting in Kanagawa Kenmin Hall -- "Ariadne auf Naxos" (libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal, 1874-1929; music by Richard Georg Strauss, 1864-1949) featuring Waldemar Kmentt, Peter Weber, Agnes Baltsa, Jon Villars, Geert Smits, Heinz Zednik, Johann Reinprecht, Marcus Pelz, Edita Gruberova, Cheryl Studer, Georg Tichy, Benedikt Kobel, Wolfgang Bankl, Helmut Wildhaber, Simina Ivan, Svetlana Serdar, Anat Efraty and the Orchestra of the Vienna State Opera
The Vienna State Opera presented a total of 10 performances of three operas, commencing with Richard Strauss's operatic entertainment, "Ariadne on Naxos." Superb in every aspect, the opera within an opera -- partly classical mythology, partly commedia dell'arte, partly 18th-century Viennese satire -- drew sold-out audiences to the large multipurpose hall fronting the bay in Yokohama.
Ranking among a small handful of the most pre-eminent opera companies of the world, the VSO is the second company to be presented in NBS's prodigious 2000-2002 opera festival. Appearing in Japan for the 15th time, the 131-year-old company arrived with 40 soloists, an orchestra of 94, a chorus of 48, a ballet of 37, 58 technicians, 38 administrators and three conductors, a total of over 300 persons.