Customer Reviews

Strauss: Die Frau ohne Schatten

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Critical opinion has been consistently divided over this work, which first premiered in October 1919. As a Chicagoan, I waited until 1984 to see the premiere at Lyric Opera of Chicago, and it was worth the wait.

This glorious performance under Solti's direction has firmly cemented my opinion that this is one of the greatest operas ever penned and should be standard repertoire by now.

To have Placido Domingo branch out and sing the role of the Emperor in this recording is another benefit of the performance.

I also appreciated very much that most of the music that had customarily been cut from performances [a practice apparently initiated by Karl Boehm] have been restored.

This is a work that succeeds musically even though the plot is at times encumbered by esoteric symbolism.

However, it is the best performance I have ever heard and I highly recommend it.

When I bought this opera, I didn't know what to expect. Frau is largely ignored in the American repetoire, which is a tragedy now that I know how marvellous this work is. True, the story is lofty with a lucid message that is unpopular in today's culture. More importantly though, the music is thrilling from start to finish. The music keeps one's attention throughout, unlike Rosenkavalier and many of Strauss' later works. Solti's orchestra has some unforgetable moments -- the descent of the Princess into the human world in Act I,for example. All the singers are incredible, even if they have no stage experience in these roles. (Where would they get the opportunity in America, anyway?) Of note is the always fascinating Hildegard Behrens. Her transition from the surly and selfish woman who sells her shadow to gain "manly" powers to a loving wife could be pulled off convincingly by few others. The finale unleashes all the soloists, orchestra, and chorus in a Straussian climax equalled only by Salome's final scence and the Rosenkavalier trio.

In a magnetic reading from the first note to the last note, Solti gives a ravishingly beautiful yet dramatic fulfilment of this most diverse and fascinating of Strauss' operas. And the sound is extraordinarily fantastic - full and sumptuous with breathtaking playing by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. All the 5 principal singers are in superlative form. This is an instant classic if there was ever one.

Die Frau Ohne Schatten with its gloriously heroic music, romantic, magical and heavenly, yet human and down to earth. Die Frau Ohne Schatten is one of the most glorious operatic masterpiece ever penned with astonishing originality. It is Strauss' "Zauberflute" with magic, romance and all. A kindly easy going Barak. Baraks' Wife who changes from being a shrew who is dissatisfied with her marriage to a humble woman who truly loves her husband. The Empress who is initially cool and unable to phantom the depths of human emotion, but who eventually understands what is true love. The Emperor who gets to sing some of the most heroic and romantic music ever written. The Nurse, a creature with magical powers who does evil but whose deeds lead to a good end by divine providence. Glorious and abstruse story. Glorious music. Die Frau Ohne Schatten is without doubt a towering operatic masterpiece of the 20th century.

Georg Solti had planned to record this opera for years, waiting, however, until his dream cast could be assembled. He also returned to his old orchestra, the Vienna Phil, with whom he made so many classic recordings before taking up the Chicago post.

The result is that Solti had time to plan and refine his shaping of the work: this performance has all of the brilliance of orchestral sound and excitement of performance of the earlier Strauss recordings with the Vienna Phil (to say nothing of the Wagner recordings), but there is also a greater willingness to let tension ebb and flow, to relax in the lyrical passages without ever losing forward momentum. This is perhaps a more humanist Solti than we meet in, say, his earlier recordings of _Salome_ and _Electra_.

As for that dream cast, it was indeed worth waiting for, and includes such details as Sumi Jo as the impossibly high, non-human voice of the Falcon, as well as Domingo handsome, heroic and intelligent as the Prince, Hildegard Behrens surely the most attractive Wife on record, not entirely and only a shrew - far superior to Böhm's Christel Goltz or (for the 2nd recording, unforgiveably abridged) Birgit Nilsson; and van Damm noble as the long-suffering and unreasonably kind Barak. Julia Varady is also a more humanist Empress than we find in rival recordings, having not quite so far to travel as some, before gaining some understanding sympathy for human sufferings and concerns.

In fact humanism might be the word for this performance. For all the fantastical nature of Hoffmannthal's libretto (part _Magic Flute_, part _Parsifal_, with strong plot echoes - surely no coincidence - of Wagner's first, fairy-tale, opera, _Die Feen_) the subject is suffering and the lesson is compassion. Solti's thoughtful, long-planned performance, and his flawless cast make _Die Frau_ not the arid allegory it can sometimes appear to be, but an involving and compassionate drama, a Morality Play.

Cheers!

Laon

Open up your ears!! This is a classic recording. There are only 2 completely uncut Die Frau's on the market, the Solti and the Sawallisch, and it's obvious that the Solti wins hands down because the Sawallisch is ruined by some inappropriate casting.

Despite it's scarcity on (especially American) stages, "Die Frau" is certainly a candidate for the 20th century's greatest opera--epic in scope, and, yes, profound in meaning, it's creators were clearly reaching for something huge, and, in my opinion, they pull it off. Strauss's score erupts with strange and beautiful musical ideas. The haunting, sinister cry of the falcon alone make it a work that any lover of late romantic opera must own, and it's climax is earth-shattering! Solti's recording is a great one. It's true that Domingo's Emperor sounds a little more Latin than one might expect in this role., his take is still fabulous. And Varaday's spoken monologue at the climax powerfully conveys her character's terrible distress. "Die Frau" is an opera that grows in the mind with repeated listenings. It's a must have.

This recording of Die Frau Ohne Schatten was recorded over a longer period of time because the singers Sir Georg Solti selected for the roles had limited availability. Sumi Jo singing the small part of the Falcon is a luxury. Domingo is excellent as the emperor but it is Hildegard Behrens, Rheinhild Runkel and Jose van Dam who steal the show. It is rare to have all the role sung as perfectly as they are here, and the Vienna Philharmonic plays with real passion.

The story of this opera is loaded with symbolism, and one of the reasons the importance of having children is stressed was concern over repopulating Germany following the First World War. This recording has consistently been given high marks. In the December 2001 issue of Gramophone, this was one of two recommended recordings of this opera. Anyone interested in Richard Strauss will want to listen to these discs. I would recommend that a listener concentrate on the music and try to gain a better hold of the story over time.

1992 Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording
1992 Gramophone Award for Best Opera Recording
1992 Shortlisted for Gramophone Award for Record of the Year
Awarded the Coveted Penguin Guide Rosette
The Most Expensive Record Ever Made when it was undertaken in 1989/90/91

What happens when the sun, earth and moon line up in a straight line once in a million years? You get an earth shattering event of cosmic proportions.....

It is not often that one recording gets a Grammy Award, a Gramophone Award and a Penguin Rosette. Normally, if a recording gets even 2 such awards, the chances are that it is a superb achievement of cosmic proportions destined to become one of the great classics of the gramophone.

This is an achievement that towers over all else. The recorded sound is incredible - sumptuous and crystal clear, a soothing balm for sore ears. The singing is unbelievable. You have got to hear Domingo, Behrens, Varady, Van Dam and Reinkel to believe them. Solti conducts with tremendous energy and lyricism. The Vienna Philharmonic play like gods.

Buy this!!

This is a simply fantastic recording. This is one of my favorite operas in the entire operatic repetoire. Behrens gives a terrific performance as the Dyer's Wife and so does Judy Varady as the Empress. Domingo sings fabulously as the Emperor and Reinhild Runkel's beautiful, mature and fruity voice is perfect for the difficult role of the Nurse. Jose Van Dam is a marvellous Barak. The Vienna Philharmonic is incredible!!

Having said that, I do also recommend another recording. Who can ever forget Leonie Rysanek in the role of the Empress? Leonie Rysanek, with her shimmering and floating high soprano whether pianissimo or fortissimo is just incomparable. And who can ever forget Christa Ludwig's miraculous and heart stopping performance as the Dyer's Wife? Just buy the DG Vienna 1964 <Die Frau Ohen Schatten> conducted by Karajan and listen to it. You will understand. I LOVE Die Frau Ohne Schatten!!!!!!