Hong Kong Cultural Centre 24 February 2024 - Bavarian State Opera - Ariadne auf Naxos | GoComGo.com

Bavarian State Opera - Ariadne auf Naxos

Hong Kong Cultural Centre, Grand Theatre, Hong Kong, China
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2:30 PM

E-tickets: Print at home or at the box office of the event if so specified. You will find more information in your booking confirmation email.

You can only select the category, and not the exact seats.
If you order 2 or 3 tickets: your seats will be next to each other.
If you order 4 or more tickets: your seats will be next to each other, or, if this is not possible, we will provide a combination of groups of seats (at least in pairs, for example 2+2 or 2+3).

Important Info
Type: Opera
City: Hong Kong, China
Starts at: 14:30
Duration: 2h 15min
Sung in: German
Titles in: Chinese,English

E-tickets: Print at home or at the box office of the event if so specified. You will find more information in your booking confirmation email.

You can only select the category, and not the exact seats.
If you order 2 or 3 tickets: your seats will be next to each other.
If you order 4 or more tickets: your seats will be next to each other, or, if this is not possible, we will provide a combination of groups of seats (at least in pairs, for example 2+2 or 2+3).

Overview

A high-octane and provocative mash-up of comedy and high art to celebrate the opening of the 2024 Hong Kong Arts Festival, brought to you by the Bavarian State Opera and an all-star cast.

The award-winning Bavarian State Opera returns for the spectacular opening of the 2024 HKAF with the Hong Kong premiere of Ariadne auf Naxos. Richard Strauss crafted this groundbreaking opera-within-an-opera about fidelity to love and art as a crossover masterpiece, allowing audiences to revel in two contrasting spectacles at once.

The action takes place at the home of Vienna’s wealthiest man. Preparations are underway for a performance of a new opera seria, Ariadne auf Naxos, by an aspiring young composer. Immediately after the opera, an Italian commedia dell’arte troupe will perform the comic intermezzo Zerbinetta and her Lovers, to be followed by a fireworks display in the garden. However, at the very last minute, performers are told that the opera and the comedy are to be performed simultaneously, and everybody scrambles to fit the two completely opposite productions together. Theatre and opera, and classical and popular styles, collide when the Tenor and the Prima Donna fight for the limelight as tragedy and comedy deliciously unfold at the same time!

This phenomenal mash-up of comedy and high art centres on a stellar trio of female leads: the acclaimed Rachel Willis-Sørensen, the fabulous Brenda Rae with her high-flying vocal pyrotechnics, and the award-winning Tara Erraught, as well as the exceptional Heldentenor Clay Hilley.

The opera is conducted by Maestro Patrick Lange, a protégé of celebrated late conductor Claudio Abbado, and is directed by world-renowned opera and theatre director Robert Carsen, who has enjoyed a long-term association with the Glyndebourne Festival and curated celebrated productions for the Salzburg Festival, the San Francisco Opera and the Metropolitan Opera. With a set design by Peter Pabst, a long-time collaborator of the immortal dancer and choreographer Pina Bausch, this glorious production combines grand passions and romantic ideals to forge a unique operatic experience. It is without doubt one of the defining theatrical events of the year in Hong Kong, and it is not to be missed.

History
Premiere of this production: Staatsoper Stuttgart

Ariadne auf Naxos (Ariadne on Naxos) is an opera by Richard Strauss with a German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. Combining slapstick comedy and consummately beautiful music, the opera's theme is the competition between high and low art for the public's attention.

Venue Info

Hong Kong Cultural Centre - Hong Kong
Location   10 Salisbury Rd, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon

Hong Kong Cultural Centre is one of Hong Kong’s leading performing arts venues, occupying a prominent waterfront position in Tsim Sha Tsui beside Victoria Harbour. Opened in 1989, the centre was created as a major cultural complex for music, opera, dance and theatre, and has since become an important stage for both Hong Kong companies and international artists.

The building is instantly recognisable for its striking modernist architecture. Its sweeping, sloping exterior has been compared to a vast wing, while the spacious piazza in front opens towards the harbour and the historic Tsim Sha Tsui Clock Tower. Together with the neighbouring Hong Kong Museum of Art and Hong Kong Space Museum, the Cultural Centre forms one of the most prominent cultural areas on the Kowloon waterfront.

The centre contains three principal performance venues. The Grand Theatre, with 1,734 seats arranged over three tiers, is designed specifically for large-scale opera, ballet, musicals, dance and theatrical productions. Its sophisticated stage machinery includes a revolving stage wagon and an electrically operated orchestra pit, allowing it to accommodate demanding international productions.

The Concert Hall, with almost 2,000 seats, is an important venue for orchestral and vocal music. Its oval auditorium features adjustable acoustic elements designed to optimise sound projection, while its impressive Rieger organ, with 8,000 pipes, is one of the defining features of the hall. The smaller Studio Theatre provides a more flexible environment for intimate and experimental productions.

With its combination of advanced performance facilities, international programming and exceptional harbour-side setting, Hong Kong Cultural Centre occupies a special place in the city’s cultural landscape. A performance here offers not only the experience of world-class music, opera or ballet, but also an unforgettable encounter with the energy and spectacular waterfront scenery of Hong Kong.

Important Info
Type: Opera
City: Hong Kong, China
Starts at: 14:30
Duration: 2h 15min
Sung in: German
Titles in: Chinese,English
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