Click here to download the Libretto- Darius Milhaud. Opéra in five scenes. Part 2 of trilogy. 1928.
- Libretto by Henri Hoppenot.
- First performance at the Hessisches Staatstheater, Wiesbaden, on 20th April 1928.
CHARACTERS
| Ariane (Ariadne) | soprano |
| Dionyse (Dionysus) | baritone |
| Phèdre (Phaedra) | soprano |
| Thésée (Theseus) | tenor |
| Bacchantes and Sailors | chorus |
On his voyage back to Athens after his victory over the Minotaur in Crete, the hero Theseus is stranded on Naxos. Ariadne complains to her father Minos and to the Gods of the wandering affections of Theseus, whose former wife Phaedra is angry at his indifference. Dionysus hears the complaints of Ariadne and Phaedra and appears as a gypsy beggar to both women, who reward him. When Theseus appears, Ariadne runs from him. Dionysus makes him drunk through a magic wine so that he sees the abandoned Phaedra, similarly dressed, doubled. He sails away and Ariadne is glad he has left her, thanking the supposed beggar, who is transformed into the god. Dionysus, who woos her in vain, sets her, at her request, among the stars, where she can for ever provide a light for ships and lovers.
The miniature opera L’Abandon d’Ariane is the second of a trilogy of nine-minute operas by Milhaud, the latter two written after L’Enlèvement d’Europe (The Abduction of Europa) which had been composed in response to a request from Hindemith in 1927. The third short opera is La Délivrance de Thésée (The Deliverance of Theseus).
