[4] The Munich premiere followed on 30 January 1913 in the old Residenztheater, a venue which was inferior for the presentation of opera, both acoustically and due to lack of space for the musicians.

Strauss, being a native son, had a close association with Munich and was held in high regard, but had to miss the performance as he was on a concert tour in Russia.

The opera was sung in German with Eva von der Osten, Hermine Bosetti and Otakar Marák, conducted by Thomas Beecham.

[6][7] In 2012, the Salzburg Festival revived the first version, staged by Sven-Eric Bechtolf, and sung by Emily Magee, Elena Moșuc and Jonas Kaufmann, with conductor Daniel Harding.

So in 1913, Hofmannsthal proposed to Strauss that the play should be replaced by a prologue, which would explain why the opera combines a serious classical story with a comedy performed by a commedia dell'arte group.

It was first presented in Budapest on 19 April 1919 (in a Hungarian translation by Z. Harsányi), and in German in Graz on 12 March 1920, Amsterdam in January 1924,[4] and London at the Royal Opera House on 27 May 1924 with Lotte Lehmann as Ariadne, Maria Ivogün as Zerbinetta (in her debut with the company), Elisabeth Schumann as the Composer, Karl Fischer-Niemann as Bacchus, and Carl Alwin conducting.

Conducted by Alexander Smallens, the cast included Alma Peterson as the Primadonna/Ariadne, Charlotte Boykin as Zerbinetta, Irene Williams as the Composer, and Judson House as the Tenor/Bacchus.

[10] It was presented by the Juilliard School in New York City in English in a translation by A. Kalisch on 5 December 1934[4] with a cast of students including Josephine Antoine as Zerbinetta, Mack Harrell as Truffaldino, and Risë Stevens as Dryad.

[13] In 1926, the opera was first presented at the Salzburg Festival, staged by Lothar Wallerstein in Viennese settings, twice conducted by Clemens Krauss and once by Richard Strauss himself.

The cast featured Maria Reining as Ariadne, Max Lorenz as Bacchus, Alda Noni as Zerbinetta, Irmgard Seefried as composer, Paul Schöffler as Musiklehrer, Erich Kunz as Harlekin and Emmy Loose as Najade.

In 1947, Lothar Wallerstein, Robert Kautsky (stage settings and costumes) and Josef Krips presented a new production of the Vienna State Opera at the Theater an der Wien.

This production was performed 20 times, also with Maria Cebotari, Lisa Della Casa, Anny Konetzni and Hilde Zadek as Ariadne, and with Peter Anders, Josef Gostic, Julius Patzak and Helge Rosvaenge as Bacchus.

Karl Böhm conducted the Vienna Philharmonic, Lisa Della Casa and Rudolf Schock sang Ariadne and Bacchus, Irmgard Seefried was the composer and Hilde Güden represented Zerbinetta.

The production was repeated during the following summer, and then went to Vienna, where it premiered in 1956 with a new cast: Hilde Zadek and Josef Gostic as Ariadne and Bacchus, Christa Ludwig as composer and Erika Köth as Zerbinetta.

Sena Jurinac (composer), Jess Thomas (Bacchus), Reri Grist (Zerbinetta) and Christa Ludwig (Ariadne) were the most prominent cast members, supported by Lisa Otto, Lucia Popp, Paul Schöffler, David Thaw and Gerhard Unger in smaller roles.

[14] In 1976, again Karl Böhm conducted a new Vienna State Opera production, this time designed and staged by Filippo Sanjust, with Gundula Janowitz as Ariadne, James King als Bacchus, Agnes Baltsa as composer and Edita Gruberová as Zerbinetta, supported by Erich Kunz, Walter Berry, Heinz Zednik, Barry McDaniel, Kurt Equiluz, Axelle Gall and Sona Ghazarian.

From 1979 to 1982, the Salzburg Festival showed a new staging by Dieter Dorn, settings and costumes by Jürgen Rose, again conducted by Karl Böhm, with a cast headed by Hildegard Behrens and James King, with Trudeliese Schmidt, Edita Gruberová, Walter Berry, Kurt Equiluz, Murray Dickie and Olivera Miljaković.

But his teacher, the Music Master, points out that his pay depends on accepting the situation, and counsels him to be prudent, and Zerbinetta turns the full force of her charm on him, so he drops his objections.

Ariadne is shown abandoned by her former lover, Theseus, on the desert island of Naxos, with no company other than the nymphs Naiad, Dryad, and Echo.

The instrumentation of the work is unusual, as its complement of 'double woodwind' is accompanied by significantly reduced brass and string forces on the one hand, and by a generous percussion section on the other.

This suite was premiered by Giancarlo Guerrero and the Nashville Symphony in October 2011, and recorded by JoAnn Falletta and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra in 2016.