Otto Schenk’s opulent production, conducted masterfully by Christian Thielemann, provides a perfect setting for Strauss’s bittersweet comedy of true love and mistaken identity. The great Kiri Te Kanawa is radiant as Arabella, the daughter of an impoverished aristocrat who must marry a wealthy man to save her family. Wolfgang Brendel sings Mandryka, the landowner from the provinces who wins her over with his honesty and genuine charm in the midst of Viennese society. Marie McLaughlin is Zdenka, Arabella’s younger sister, whose well-meaning actions cause all kinds of misunderstandings, and David Kuebler sings Matteo, Arabella’s suitor, who realizes he is really in love with Zdenka. Helga Dernesch and Donald McIntyre are Arabella’s parents, the Count and Countess Waldner, and Natalie Dessay, in her Met debut role, sings the Fiakermilli. Performance date: November 3, 1994.