• Bohuslav Martinů. Opera in one act. 1958.
• Libretto by the composer after Georges Neveux’s play Le Voyage de Thésée (The Voyage of Theseus).
• First performance in Gelsenkirchen on 2nd March 1961.

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CHARACTERS

Ariadne	soprano
Burun	tenor
Watchman	bass
Minotaur	bass
Old Man	bass
Theseus	baritone

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For his chamber opera on the story of Theseus and Ariadne Martinů drew on the second, third and fourth acts of the four-act play by Neveux. The opera opens with the arrival of Theseus in Crete, one of the group of young Athenians to be sacrificed to the Minotaur. He falls in love with Ariadne, but when one of his companions is killed he faces the Minotaur, who assumes the form of Theseus and tells him that the Minotaur is the real Theseus. Theseus kills the monster and thereby also his love for Ariadne, sailing away after a triumph that has put an end to his love for her.

Martinů drew in part on the example of the Bohemian composer Benda in his treatment of the subject of Ariadne. He intended the title role for Maria Callas.