R STRAUSS Die Frau ohne Schatten
Loy’s concept Die Frau on DVD from the Sofiensaal
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Richard Strauss
Genre:
Opera
Label: Opus Arte
Magazine Review Date: 08/2012
Media Format: Digital Versatile Disc
Media Runtime: 220
Mastering:
Stereo
DDD
Catalogue Number: OA1072D

Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
(Die) Frau ohne Schatten |
Richard Strauss, Composer
Andreas Conrad, Hunchback Brother, Tenor Anne Schwanewilms, Empress, Soprano Christian Thielemann, Conductor Evelyn Herlitzius, Barak's Wife, Soprano Markus Brück, One-eyed Brother, Bass Michaela Schuster, Nurse, Mezzo soprano Richard Strauss, Composer Stephen Gould, Emperor, Tenor Steven Humes, One-armed Brother, Bass Thomas J Mayer, Spirit-Messenger, Baritone Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra Vienna State Opera Chorus Wolfgang Koch, Barak, Baritone |
Author: Richard Lawrence
For this is no staging but a concert performance with a difference. Christof Loy has set the opera in the Sofiensaal in Vienna and the ‘action’ is the recording made by Decca in 1955. So for much of the time the characters clutch vocal scores and sing from music stands. The Nurse wears hat, coat and gloves, the Spirit Messenger a coat and scarf (the hall was unheated, according to Loy). Assistant producers move stands and singers around. During an orchestral interlude, Barak leaves the stage for a drink and a smoke. Moreover – though you wouldn’t know without reading Mike Ashman’s booklet-note – Loy sees the Empress as a young singer learning from her more experienced colleagues.
It’s all a long way from the original but if you can accept Loy’s reinvention there’s much to admire. One or two imprecise entries aside, the Vienna Philharmonic play like angels: Christian Thielemann is alive to every detail of Strauss’s kaleidoscopic orchestration. As the Empress, Anne Schwanewilms is outstanding, her gleaming soprano scoring bullseye after bullseye. Michaela Schuster’s subtle facial expressions are well caught by the camera but the close-ups of Evelyn Herlitzius are less than flattering. Wolfgang Koch is a sterling Barak; Stephen Gould has the top notes but it’s hard to be moved by the Emperor’s Act 2 solo when you have just seen him take a sip of water.
Götz Friedrich’s production for Solti (Decca) is reassuringly traditional; Ennosuke Ichikawa’s for Sawallisch (ArtHaus Musik), better sung, makes a number of cuts. Thielemann/Loy is absolutely complete, including all the Empress’s spoken words in Act 3.
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