What is a serious opera singer to do when she is playing a character who awaits death on a desert island
and is continually interrupted by an underground cabaret comedy troupe, all performing at the whim of a spoiled wealthy Viennese nobleman in the Weimar era?! This is the confusing and hilarious premise of Richard Strauss’ brilliant Ariadne auf Naxos being presented by the USC Thornton School of Music Opera Program and the USC Thornton Symphony Orchestra. Strauss’ beautiful score is perfectly complimented by Hugo von Hofmannsthal’s witty, lively libretto. Ariadne is the epitome of sweet and savory, ending in a triumphant ascension into the joyful world of Bacchus.