SUMMARY and ANALYSIS: ARIADNE auf NAXOS, Music by Richard Strauss: "Opera-within-an-Opera" in German with a "Prologue" and "Opera"

by Burton D. Fisher

with intermittent encouragement from the trio of Nymphs, Ariadne’s longing for death becomes transformed into a longing for love; she surrenders to the heaven-sent stranger and passion immediately envelops both.