Dreaming big is a wonderful thing, but when it comes to programming, being a realist is as important as having ambition. Citiopera’s threadbare staging of Richard Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos is a case in point, where a conspicuous lack of resources has resulted in a production that is ultimately unflattering for both the cast and the score.

As director Stella Axarlis noted in her introductory address on opening night, Ariadne is staged less often than other Strauss operas, such as Elektra or Der Rosenkavalier, but there are worthy riches here nonetheless, both musical and narrative. It’s highly original, whimsical plot may be a bit discombobulating at times, but it remains perennially relevant to anyone familiar with the backstage drama of staging an opera.

A Prologue offers a wry farce about a planned evening of entertainment, privately commissioned by a wealthy, unseen benefactor for a lavish soiree he is hosting. Two productions have been ordered: one is an operatic tragedy based on Greek antiquity, while the other is a rip-roaring commedia dell’arte. However, the chalk and cheese of these two productions are unceremoniously jammed together when the evening’s proceedings are derailed by an overrunning dinner. Despite the protestations of the pretentious young...