DESCRIPTION:
From a live concert performance by Thomas Scherman and the Little Orchestra Society, here is a performance of "Ariadne auf Naxos" (sung in English) by Richard Strauss. Eileen Farrell sings the title role. The cast is given in its entirety in the video credits (along with a cast photo). 3 January 1958, Carnegie Hall. (The prologue was not included in this performance.) Previous performances of this work with similar cast had been performed at New York's Town Hall.

And here is a link to one of my many Eileen Farrell playlists:
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLD14015D28B8E750A

Here is a link to Thomas Scherman conducting the New York premiere of "Die Frau ohne Schatten" in 1964: https://youtu.be/t-2R1y0zOOA

Music Critic Howard Taubman had this to say of the performance:
"Opera in concert form continues to be a popular attraction, particularly when the works chosen are not staples of the repertory. Thomas Scherman and the Little Orchestra Society have moved their opera series from Town Hall to the larger Carnegie Hall, and last night's performance of Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos drew an audience big enough to justify the change of venue. Was it Ariadne in itself that exerted this public appeal? Probably not. The opera has fine moments - Ariadne in her grand pages so reminiscent of opera seria and Zerbinetta glittering and fickle. But the fun in the mixture of serious and comic styles has worn thin.

Was it the modified staging supervised by Basil Langton that made the difference to the public? Not likely. Mr. Langton's ideas were not intrusive on the whole, and they did help to create a suggestion of illusion. The mime-dancers who served as alter egos for Zerbinetta's four companions did not, however, provide a useful addition.

The secret of Mr. Scherman's success was that he had first-rate singers in the two leading roles. Eileen Farrell gave Ariadne memorable grandeur of voice and style, and Mattiwilda Dobbs sang Zerbinetta with accuracy, lightness and grace. The part of Ariadne lies perfectly for Miss Farrell's magnificent voice. She can float long-breathed phrases of matchless quality, and she can vary her tone from fine-hued softness to a sumptuous fullness. She has appeared in concert-form opera a great deal in smaller halls. When she sings in a large hall that can accommodate her voice, she is more impressive than ever. Miss Dobbs has the vocal agility and discipline to manage Zerbinetta's big aria, one of the most taxing in opera. If she is just a shade careful with it, who can blame her? She sang it not merely as a vocal exercise but as a piece with musical meaning.

Jon Crain sang Bacchus with energy; his tenor has fine stuff in it but he will not try to refine it. Patricia Connor, Mary Judd and Madelyn Vose made a well-balanced trio as Naiad, Echo and Dryad, and Russell Oberlin, Loren Driscoll, Robert Goss and Jan Rubes were agreeable as Zerbinetta's companions. Mr. Scherman did a workmanlike job of conducting the opera. He has presented it before, and he discovers new subtleties as he studies it more deeply."