Name: Arabella
Start: 1994-11-03T00:00:00.000Z
End: 1994-11-03T00:00:00.000Z
Location: Metropolitan Opera House

Organization

Conductor

Christian Thielemann

Soprano

Kiri Te Kanawa

Arabella

Marie McLaughlin

Zdenka

Mezzo-soprano

Helga Dernesch

Adelaide

Tenor

David Kuebler

Matteo

Baritone

Wolfgang Brendel

Mandryka

Bass

Donald McIntyre

Count Waldner

The Metropolitan Opera

Others

Metropolitan Opera Choir

Orchestra

Metropolitan Opera Orchestra

German

New York City

United States

Metropolitan Opera House

Otto Schenk’s opulent production, conducted masterfully by Christian Thielemann, provides a perfect setting for Strauss’s bittersweet comedy of true love and mistaken identity. The great Kiri Te Kanawa is radiant as Arabella, the daughter of an impoverished aristocrat who must marry a wealthy man to save her family. Wolfgang Brendel sings Mandryka, the landowner from the provinces who wins her over with his honesty and genuine charm in the midst of Viennese society. Marie McLaughlin is Zdenka, Arabella’s younger sister, whose well-meaning actions cause all kinds of misunderstandings, and David Kuebler sings Matteo, Arabella’s suitor, who realizes he is really in love with Zdenka. Helga Dernesch and Donald McIntyre are Arabella’s parents, the Count and Countess Waldner, and Natalie Dessay, in her Met debut role, sings the Fiakermilli.

Production booklet

Further reading