Los Angeles Opera's Die Frau ohne Schatten, p3

Die Frau ohne Schatten
at the Los Angeles Opera... a magical celebration of procreation

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Photos: by permission of Los Angeles Opera	As Barak and his wife drift wretched in their aloneness, each begins to long for the other. This longing finds expression as Barak's aria ("Mir anvertraut" or "Entrusted to me"), the most beautiful melody in the opera, which ends as a duet with his wife. Meanwhile somewhere in the in-between world, the Nurse is banished to the world of humans forever and because the Empress still has no shadow, the Emperor has turned to stone ("Er wird zu stein"). The Empress is given a second chance to gain the Dyer's wife's shadow - by drinking from the miraculous "fountain of life." Now possessed by a love greater than herself and willing to accept the punishment of complete separation from her beloved, she refuses to drink of water that is tainted with blood. She screams with great anguish "I will not!"
The Empress' principled resolution of her dilemma pleases the higher powers who promptly undo the punishment, gives her a shadow to cast, and unites her with the Emperor, now mercifully de-petrified. The higher powers smile on Barak and his wife as well. Rising from the depths of the earth, they find each other, her shadow now symbolically transformed into a beautiful bridge of love. The couples join in jubilation, their rejoicing complemented by the angelic singing of unborn children - a happy ending and needless to say, a joyous foreshadowing of things to come!
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Although a part of today's operatic repertoire, Die Frau ohne Schatten is not performed as regularly as Strauss' other operas. Certainly it is not because of the extraordinary requirements of the lush and complex orchestration Strauss is famous for and that can at times sound intimidating to the untutored ear. More likely it is because the opera's overflowing symbolism makes the work seem impenetrable. The "shadow" itself is a topic for unending discourse - obviously a symbol of fecundity, but is it equally a symbol of humanity, of death...? Even the five fishes conjured by the Nurse for Barak's meal are not spared. In this production, by some theatrical sleight-of-hand they shoot from out of the blue straight into Barak's frying pan and then, rather amusingly, sing in the voices of unborn children! Indeed, there is no shortage of hidden meanings in this opera to exercise the mind.

But is the deconstruction of enigmatic symbols a requirement for enjoying the opera? Definitely not. And this production proves it. The marvelous exuberance of David Hockney's* wonderland in which one can so happily get lost makes it so easy to enjoy the profusion of beautifully rich and powerful symphonic music that transforms at appropriate moments into moving melodies of chamber proportions. And with a vocally and dramatically superb cast supported by a brilliant conductor, the opera becomes a visual and aural spectacle like no other. Bravo, Los Angeles Opera!

- © GCajipe / FanFaire

*DAVID HOCKNEY is perhaps the most famous of English contemporary painters. An eclectic and prolific artist who first made his mark in Pop Art, he has produced numerous works in almost every medium. His innovative set designs for the stage of the world's major opera houses are the subject of the recently released and acclaimed documentary film "The Colors of Music" by MARYTE KAVALIAUSKAS and SETH SCHNEIDMAN. He is also a distinguished author whose recent book on the use of optical devices by the old masters of Western art caused quite a stir among art historians.

Excerpt is from an award-winning recording of Die Frau ohne Schatten (Decca # 36243 /1992) with Sir Georg Solti conducting the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (Dyer's Wife - Hildegard Behrens; Emperor - Placido Domingo; Nurse - Reinhild Runkel; Empress - Julia Varady).

AWARDS: 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; Stella Award - Birmingham. BUY THE CD!

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