Benda, J.A.: Ariadne Auf Naxos / Pygmalion

Featuring

Christian Benda
Brigitte Quadlbauer
Hertha Schell
Peter Uray
Prague Chamber Orchestra
Georg Anton Benda

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Composition History

Benda's melodrama Ariadne auf Naxos was first staged in Gotha in January 1775, after the original musical setting by Schweitzer was destroyed in a castle fire.

Composer Biography

Jirí Antonín Benda, known in German as Georg Benda, was born in 1722 and became Kapellmeister to Duke Friedrich III of Saxe-Gotha in 1750.

Performer Biography

Christian Benda, the conductor and cellist on this album, is a descendant of the Bohemian Benda family and has made numerous recordings as a cellist and conductor.

Compositional Technique

Benda's Ariadne auf Naxos uses a relatively large orchestra, including strings, pairs of flutes, oboes, bassoons, horns, timpani, and four off-stage trombones.

Composer Biography

The Benda family, including composer Jirí Antonín Benda, has been an important and continuing presence in German music for about 250 years.

Compositional Technique

Benda's melodramas, like Medea, used recurrent motifs to provide musical unity, a technique that suggests the later work of Wagner.

Critical Reception

Mozart admired Benda's melodramas, particularly Medea, and praised the form in a letter to his father, calling Benda his favorite among Lutheran Kapellmeister.