Customer Reviews

Richard Strauss - Die Frau Ohne Schatten

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

First of all, I have compared this new DVD release with the old LD release. The picture quality has been improved with sharper image and fuller color. The audio part now contains LPCM (CD quality, same as in LD) and dts5.1 surround. I use dts5.1 surround and it gives a very natural sound stage and greater presence than listening to the LD release. The DVD prodcution quality is first rate, thanks to Universal Music's new company high standards for DVD production. I hope the other companies, especially Kultur and VAI can learn something here.

Now go to the performance. Sir Georg Solti has made a name for his Richard Strauss opera recordings in the classical music world. And in my opinion, Die Frau ohne Schatten is among his best! His great command of the unique and sometimes bizarre orchestral color in this opera gives it an everlasting charm. In several orchestral interludes (during scene change), Sir Georg keeps the tension of the drama very well. And Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra responds with rich string and woodwind colors.

The staging is magical. Changes of scenes are seamless and each scene stage decoration is done with very good taste and elaboration.

For the soloists, I think Eva Marton is the greatest star in the production. Her effortless vocal skill rides above thick orchestral sound and pierce through it clearly. She seems to have endless power. It's not raw power, but power with beauty. Her powerful voice suits this commanding woman role (the dyer's wife) perfectly. And Marton's acting is a delight to watch, as in many other operas. Marjana Lipovsek as the nurse is another surprise and star in the production. Both singing and acting are first rate. Cheryl Studer as the empress (the woman with no shadow) demonstrates her sweet voice as in 1992. Her decline on stage in later years is really a pity. Robert Hale as Barak (the dyer) and Thomas Moser as the emperor are also very well casted. I don't find a weak major role in this production.

I wholehearted recommend this DVD to people who love operas.

The negative criticisms of some previous reviewers notwithstanding, this is a fantastic performance of a wondrous, magical opera, the last and perhaps best collaboration between Hugo von Hoffmannstahl and Richard Strauss. Here the composer, surprisingly, returns to his earlier style (e.g. Salome, Elektra) with a huge orchestra and vast volume of sound, but at the same time combines it with quiet, chamber music sections. The overall effect is a balance between the two and the work remains fascinating and enchanting in spite of its length. The score is, of course, not expected to be fully comprehended at first hearing, but repeated listening will bring discovery and lots of enjoyment.
It is a great gift of technology today, the DVD, that such a production can be accessible to the public.
To begin with: Solti the conductor. It is quite obvious to anyone by now that he was one of the two greatest conductors (Karajan the other) of the latter half of the 20th century. Here we witness his greatness by watching him conduct, his intense concentration, his precise and elegant baton handling, his finger and eye movements giving almost imperceptible clues to his orchestra. He creates incredible orchestral effects with an economy of movements
thereby preserving his energy (after all, he was over 75 years old at the time). Just watch him conduct the Interlude, the Descent onto Earth, in Act. I., (reminiscent of similar passage in the Rheingold), so exciting it is that it will hold you breathless.
The production itself is visually stunning with inspired set designs, strong images and beautiful colours - a feast to the eye.
The principals are to varying degrees quite exceptional. Eva Marton, the Hungarian born soprano is thoroughly inspired in the monstrously difficult role of Barak's wife although her voice is no longer in its prime. Her acting is uninhibited and riveting. Cheryl Studer, a highly accomplished dramatic soprano is also inspired and very sympathetic as the Empress. But Marjana Lipovsek (who, contrary to a previous reviewer, is very much alive!) is the most outstanding female singer in the production, as the Nurse.
Robert Hale, as Barak, creates a completely believable character and grows emotionally as the opera progresses. Even his voice gets stronger and stronger. Thomas Moser as the Emperor, unfortunately, is no match for Placido Domingo as his voice is comparatively under powered. Bryn Terfel has a stentorian voice, promising a great career for him in years to come.
It has to be mentioned that the previously released CD set on Decca, also with Solti, has marginally better singers , but I would not for a moment hesitate to get the DVD if you want to see this opera. It is also more economical: 2 DVD's vs. 3 CD's.
The set is neatly presented, booklet included. Interactive menus with a great many Decca DVD previews are available.
A "must have" for all Strauss lovers.

In the same year this live performance was recorded, during the summer Salzburg Festival, Decca released Sir Georg's studio-recorded version, which, as was the case with Sawallisch's for EMI of some years before, was note-complete but shows a cast altogether different from the one hired for him by the Salzburg Festival. Solti had acquiesced to the usual theatre cuts for his series of performances for Covent Garden during the 1960's, but later on insisted in presenting the work complete, whether for the public or in the studio, so we may presume this performance is complete, although it is neither so advised in the booklet nor could I check it with a score. The point is important because one of the key parts, that of The Nurse, has been cut almost from the work's first performances some eighty years ago, especially in the last act, on grounds of its fearsome difficulty ("those passages are unsingable" was the term coined by some of the singers during Strauss's time), but this performance shows the unnecessariness of such cutting the rôle as taken by Marjana Lipovsek, a singer whose untimely death one regrets daily. It is the crown jewel of the set, a true performance to serve as a reference for many years to come, fabulously sung and supremely well acted.

Studer is very good as The Empress, singing beautifully if rather wanting in the acting side. Strauss gave this character some of his most inspired pages ever and Studer, her voice soaring majestically above the vast Salzburg venue, acquits herself with top honours. Moser proves a handsome Emperor, slightly light-voiced for the rôle perhaps, but is very effective, looking every inch the part (Solti used Plácido Domingo in his studio recording referred to above). The Barak character, the Emperor's human counterpart, is taken here by Robert Hale, whose voice was perhaps past its prime by 1992 but he none the less was still able to portray the dyer quite well (some older readers may refer to Walter Berry's impersonation, preserved on disc but better still if they were lucky enough to catch him live, but they will be surprised by Hale's success). And now to Bark's Wife, the Empress's human counterpart and taken here by Eva Marton: by 1992 her voice had deteriorated significantly and her impersonation of the part, no matter how passionate and well acted, is marred by a very serious wobble and proves the set's minus side (and its missing the 5th star in my rating, which the set would have otherwise deserved). The supporting parts are very affective, no less so Andrea Rost as the Falcon. Solti conducts with his customary nervousness and the Vienna Philharmonic play like gods, they do show they have this music in their bones, having played the score more times (one hesitates to use the term "more often" in an opera so seldomly played) than any other ensemble.

The Friedrich production, with handsome sets by Rolf Glittenberg that effectively convey the parallel fantasy and human planes where the action develops is fascinating to watch, the sound has been very vividly caught by the joint team of ORF (Austrian Public Radio & TV) and Decca, and visual production for home viewing is sensitive and unobtrusive, allowing you to form a wholesome picture of the actual Salzburg proceedings of a decade ago.

Not only is is the only Die Frau Ohne Schatten available on DVD, it is absolutely complete!! There are no cuts whatsoever. This really puts CD sets like Sinopoli to shame since they could have just patched in the cut sections from the 'live' performance. We owe it to Solti to show the world that Strauss' Die Frau can be performed uncut (unlike say Elektra which probably could not since Elektra is too taxing a role).

A great supplement to Solti's even better CD performance featuring Domingo, Behnrens, Varady and Van Dam.

I agree completely with Mr. Marcelino Plaza's (Caracas) detailed review on this marvelous opera. However, Mr Plaza should not worry about cuts in the Nurse part «Solti... insisted in presenting the work complete, whether for the public or in the studio, so we may presume this performance is complete, although it is neither so advised in the booklet nor could I check it with a score. »
Actually, the score IS complete and this is written in the booklet (p. 16) included with the 2 DVDs.

I owned a VHS tape of this performance but did not hesitate ten seconds to buy the DVD.

I doubt that the work was ever performed this well in Strauss' lifetime. I remember some wondrous performances at the Met with the likes of Rysanek and Ludwig and King and Berry but these were merely wondrous.

This performance is, as someone here already observed, historical. And beautiful. And beyond praising. And yes, it should be on c/d.

Great performances. But this transfer to dvd is very poorly. Unlike what the cover may suggest it's not enhanced for 16:9 widescreen televisions. But what's even more sad is that the video is full of digital artefacts. Especially in the beginning of act three the décor seems to have a life of it's own. It spoils a lot of your viewing pleasure.
The sound is great.

Before the DVD, I listened to Solti's CD. I liked it very much at first, and the more I listened to it, the more I loved it. I followed the libretto and I imagined a very fantastic kind of opera with lots of sets and coulours.

I thought that Studer made a very good Empress, better than Varady. I turn on the DVD instead of the CD when I want to listen to the Empress in particular. Her acting is not very good, however. Most of the time she has a confused open-mouthed expression, as if she had no idea why she was on stage. One thing to note is that she cut out most of the spoken text in the third act, not that it's important but it's strange to see a bad actor conveying internal conflict without words. When Empress gets her shadow, a very bright beam shines through her skirt and you can't help noticing what huge legs she has.

I'll agree with other reviewers on Lipovsek. I was surprised by her excellent acting, she exhibited a whole range of emotions. She would stoop at times, and even swagger too. The only problem is in Act III, when she's misdirecting Barak and Wife. She moves her head around a lot and it seems like the mic doesn't catch everything clearly. Although she isn't as constant and Runkel, I really did enjoy her interpretation.

I don't like Marton's voice. It seems devoid of any delicacy. Here too, she screams most of her lines. They're accompanied with a ton of facial contortions. To make matters worse, the high notes don't even come out right. You can barely tell them apart because her vibrato is so wobbly. It's most notable at the end of the quartet in Act III, where she and Studer don't even sing the same note. Her acting is fun to watch though. For example, her reaction to the screaming fish is hilarious. She even starts crying at Act III. At least Behrens had the prerequisite vocal range, though I never really know what to think of her interpretations because her voice and singing seem so unusual.

Hale looks frail, but his singing is satisfactory. He's thin so you can see the bulging veins on his neck... a bit distracting. His acting was fine too, except he doesn't look very menacing when he's treatening the Wife. During Act III, he's stuck on the right side of the stage, sulking adorably.

Moser has the best costume! His singing is really light compared to Domingo. During the quartets and duets, it's especially noticeable. The huge bags under his eyes and his facial contortions give him an ever-changing mask. It's awkward and distracting. I don't think the role of the Emperor requires a lot of acting anyway.

Terfel as one of the messengers is very good. He's floating in a corner at the begining, which is really not how I pictured the scene. His make up doesn't make sense to me either. Another weird one is the female messenger; she looks absurd. The falcon is just a mass of red flesh that doesn't move at all. The chorus is really excellent though.

The staging was the most disappointing part. The stage is vast yet the sets are painfully diminutive. The scene where Nurse first tempts Barak's Wife with the crown is the only one that's impressive. The last act was the worst. There's no scene change during the Empress and Emperor's descent; instead they just hang out on stage, smiling and moving about aimlessly. Then, when I saw Studer "pull out" Marton's shadow from a roll on the ground, I was simiply shocked. And then no golden bridge materialized, Barak and Barak's wife just walk on her "shadow". That was absolutely ridiculous, what self-respecting singer would agree to move the set, during a performance, and in front of the audience? What they did to create the golden spring was so pathetic: two plastic cylinder filled with water and air bubbles coming up. Also the spirit messenger here looks like a singing rectangle. Why??? Barak's sword turned out to be a cheap looking lightsabre wannabe. The lighting wasn't good either. You can barely see Marton's face during the end of Act II. Also when Barak and his Wife are looking for each other, there's an awkward "searchlight" effect going on. The last scene with the chorus of unborn children is also very weird. I don't know who they paid to the background, but it looks so dumb! There's raw wooden paneling on the extremities and it looks out of place when the performers are there. I didn't like how they handled the broom bit. The "handsome" fellow Wife met on a bridge is terrifying. He looks very bright and metallic. The special effects for the Nurse's magic tricks aren't spectacular. It's hard to see the fish flying and the bed breaking happens in the dark.

So in the end, this is a good DVD. The singing and conducting is worthwhile, even if the visual aspect doesn't contribute much.

Beautiful videography, intense performances, a superbly crafted performance of a superb opera!

I'm not usually a fan of minimalist productions, but in this case, it truly underlines the fantasy elements of this incredible Opera. The opera DEMANDS the audience bring something to the table, so the director and designers wisely decided to keep the sets, staging, and lighting to a minimum, so that the characters stay in the forefront, and the drama becomes all the more palpable. The singing is gut wrenchingly emotional, but more importantly, the ACTING is outstanding. Kudos to all involved.

My only wish is that is eventually makes it to BluRay disc!