Arabella

Esteemed director Christof Loy presents a stunning new production of Strauss' intimate psychological opera, Arabella. Loy's innovative staging highlights the dark side of Strauss and librettist Hugo von Hofmannsthal's comic opera with unnerving tact. Arabella's family is facing financial ruin, her own sister, Zdenka, has been raised as a boy to save the family the extravagant cost of introducing two daughters into society. Their only hope is to marry Arabella off to a wealthy man, but what she longs for is true love, and sometimes love can be blinding. With minimalistic staging and sleek elegant sets, Loy turns focus to Arabella's complicated cast of characters. Soprano Jacquelyn Wagner brings a haunting believability to the charming Arabella, most notably in her Act 1 aria Mein Elemer, and mezzo Sarah Defrise shines as the tragic Zdenka.