Bacchus et Ariane: Suite No.2

Bacchus et Ariane, Roussel’s answer to Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé, was first performed at the Paris Opéra in 1931 with choreography by Serge Lifar and designs - not much appreciated at the time - by Giorgio di Chirico. It is based on the same legend as any number of operas, one of the most recent examples of which was Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos. There is no Zerbinetta in the ballet of course and none of her unfunny company of comedians, just Ariadne, Theseus who abandons her on the island of Naxos, Bacchus who brings her divine consolation, and a company of youths and maidens, fauns and mænads.

The second suite from Bacchus et Ariane incorporates the whole of the second act of the ballet. Ariadne is asleep, breathing in gentle syncopations on the strings and unaware of the melancholy message uttered by bassoon and a solo viola. With the first entry of the clarinet she awakens, finds herself alone, panics and, as the orchestra scrambles to a hysterical climax, climbs to the top of a rock to throw herself into the sea - which she does in a dramatic glissando, but only to find herself safe in the arms of Bacchus. He dances first with her and then in a swirling jig-like solo beginning on bassoon and violas. It is a solemn moment when Bacchus kisses Ariadne, inspiring first a noble melody on lower strings and horns and then a magical transformation of the island as Bacchus’s followers appear among the rocks. The demonstration of their rude vigour ends as a faun and a mænad present Ariadne with a golden goblet of wine. Her reaction is a dance which begins modestly enough to a languorous melody on solo violin but which becomes increasingly passionate until Bacchus is provoked to join her in the longest episode in the suite. It begins on the strings in a heavy 10/8 and gains in brilliance and intensity at an ever quicker tempo, developing into a full-scale bacchanal and culminating in the ecstatic coronation of Ariadne with Bacchus’s kiss proclaimed on the four horns and, as the curtain falls, on the four trumpets.

Clearly, if any young lady is asked to name a god to take to a desert island, she would be wise to choose Bacchus.

Gerald Larner©