Gundula Janowitz is the prima donna who sings the title role, her fresh voice and musicality make her lament moving, but the coloratura soprano, Edita Gruberova, all but steals the show as Zerbinetta, providing both singing and acting splendor. Her coloratura is flawless, the trills in the aria "Grossmächtige Prinzessin," effortless. The harassed Composer, seen only in the Prologue, is Trudeliese Schmidt, whose singing is first-rate and whose acting in the pants role suits the part admirably, the veritable archetype of the ardent, impetuous artist. Among the men, veteran Walter Berry is a fine Musicmaster, the voice of reason amid all the madcap goings-on, while the comedians are a feisty bunch with good voices. Special mention is due baritone Barry McDaniel’s Harlequin and lyric tenor Heinz Zednik’s Dancing Master (in the Prologue) and Brighella. The role of Bacchus is a thankless part and if René Kollo is sometimes stiff and blustery, so too, are most tenors in that role. Pacing and orchestral playing could not be bettered as the Vienna Philharmonic is led by the great Strauss conductor, Karl Böhm. John Vernon’s video direction is efficient, but his discreet use of fades and tight closeups may strike some as too much of a good thing. Filmed to a prerecorded soundtrack, lip-synching is smoothly done. There’s a fine 1988 MET production led by James Levine with Jessye Norman and a similarly starry cast, but you can’t go wrong with either--or both--of these versions of Strauss’s opera. -- Dan Davis

Ariadne auf Naxos is an all-regions DVD in color and 4:3 ratio. Sound options include PCM Stereo and DTS 5.1 Surround. Sung in German with subtitles in English, French, Spanish, and Chinese.