Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Ravishing music-making permeates the Met’s triumphant revival of DIE FRAU OHNE SCHATTEN

• By drediman
• December 25, 2024
• No Comments

Any chance to catch the rarely-performed opera Die Frau ohne Schatten is an opportunity well worth taking. The fourth of the stories collaborations between composer Richard Strauss and poet/librettist Hugo von Hofmannsthal (Elektra, Ariadne auf Naxos, Der Rosenkavalier), the technically demanding opera — the production requires sweeping directorial vision, as well as massive orchestral resources — tells the mythological story of two marriages whose love is tested to their brink. The fairytale-like proceedings unfold between parallel dimensions — the shimmering palace of the Emperor and the Empress and other locales beneath the realm of the spirit god Keikobad, as well as the meek home of the Dyer and his Wife.

I’m happy to report that the Metropolitan Opera’s fall revival just might have been the company’s most satisfying production of the season thus far (luckily, I was able to attend the final performance of the run). The production by director Herbert Wernicke treats the opera’s tricky brew of dense mythology and heavy symbolism with striking poetry and imagination (Wernicke is also credited for designing the production’s fanciful costumes, sets, and lighting). Met Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin triumphantly takes on Strauss’s sprawling, varied score head on, resulting in a ravishing musical reading that’s laced with sensitivity and nuance.

However, any successful mounting of the opera lives and dies on the strength of its cast, and it’s here that the revival shined most brightly, beginning with its trio of challenging soprano roles. As the Empress, Elza van den Heever gave a vocally resplendent performance — bright, agile, rich — that’s likely a benchmark for the South African singer. In the key roles of the Dyer’s Wife and the Empress’s Nurse, Lise Lindstrom and Nina Stemme both gave thoughtful but less flashy performances that brought deep humanity to complicated, potentially unsympathetic characters. As the Emperor, tenor Russell Thomas was vocally solid if a tad emotionally stiff. Perhaps the performance of the evening belonged to veteran baritone Michael Volle, whose deeply moving portrayal of the Dyer elevated the revival with eloquent acting and robust Wagnerian vocals.

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DIE FRAU OHNE SCHATTEN
Opera
The Metropolitan Opera
4 hours, 10 minutes (including two intermissions)
Closed