In 1912 Richard Strauss carefully looked around for a theatre he could entrust with the première of his Ariadne auf Naxos. In the preceding season Der Rosenkavalier had had its first performance at the Dresden Court Opera; yet, for all the brilliant and eminently successful production, Strauss excluded this opera house from his considerations, primarily because he found it too large for the intimate new work. The small Residenz Theater, part of the Bavarian Court Theatres in Munich, would have suited him, but for a number of reasons no agreement could be reached with its general manager. About that time the new Court Theatre in Stuttgart opened its doors. It consisted of two theatres, the large house mainly for operas and classical dramas and a well-equipped little one, a veritable gem for comic operas and drawing room plays. Strauss considered this Kleine Haus, as it was called, ideal for Ariadne.