“It is a simple and enormous problem of life: that of loyalty,” is how Hugo von Hofmannsthal describes the core of their third joint opera, Ariadne auf Naxos, in a letter to Richard Strauss. Living does not mean insisting and wanting to hold on to what has been lost. If you want to live, you have to let go, forget, get over yourself - constantly transform. This is what a young opera composer experiences in this work, who is confronted with the stubborn wishes of his client; just like the protagonist of his opera, Ariadne, who, abandoned by her lover, Theseus, only awaits death. But things turn out differently... Strauss and Hofmannsthal allow opposites to collide: tragedy and comedy, light music and grand opera, play and seriousness. This is how the secret of transformation, unfathomable to us all, takes place in the reflection of art and life, between gaze and gaze. Musical direction: Kent Nagano Production and stage: Dmitri Tcherniakov Dramaturgy: Angela Beuerle, Michael Sangkuhl