Claire Born was a German operatic soprano. A long-term member of the Vienna State Opera and the Semperoper in Dresden, she appeared at leading international opera houses and festivals, in roles such as Donna Elvira in Mozart's Don Giovanni, Eva in Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg and the title role of Ariadne auf Naxos. She performed in world premieres including Hindemith's Cardillac and Othmar Schoeck's Vom Fischer un syner Fru.

Ariadne auf Naxos, Op. 60, is a 1912 opera by Richard Strauss with a German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. The opera's unusual combination of elements of low commedia dell'arte with those of high opera seria points up one of the work's principal themes: the competition between high and low art for the public's attention.