Strauss, R: Die Frau ohne Schatten

Already brimming with symbols and transformations, the epic fairytale recounted by Strauss and his librettist Hofmannsthal in Die Frau ohne Schatten acquires a further allegorical dimension in Christoph Loy’s inventive production for the Salzburg Festival. The central character, the Empress – half-spirit, half-human, and unable to bear children until she finds a shadow – here becomes a young soprano who makes a voyage of personal and professional discovery as she records the opera. A superb cast fulfils the complex vocal and dramatic demands of the piece while Christian Thielemann and the Vienna Philharmonic rise gloriously to the challenges of Strauss’s most ambitious and splendid operatic score.

Premiere recording of this production.

Christian Thielemann’s first opera performance at the Salzburg Festival.

First opera from Salzburg Festival to be released on Opus Arte.

Extra features include 'Christian Thielemann rehearses 'Die Frau Ohne Schatten', and cast gallery.

Running time: 220 minutes

Subtitles: EN/FR/DE/ES

Sound format: 2.0LPCM + 5.1(5.0) DTS

Already brimming with symbols and transformations, the epic fairytale recounted by Strauss and his librettist Hofmannsthal in Die Frau ohne Schatten acquires a further allegorical dimension in Christoph Loy’s inventive production for the Salzburg Festival. The central character, the Empress – half-spirit, half-human, and unable to bear children until she finds a shadow – here becomes a young soprano who makes a voyage of personal and professional discovery as she records the opera. A superb cast fulfils the complex vocal and dramatic demands of the piece while Christian Thielemann and the Vienna Philharmonic rise gloriously to the challenges of Strauss’s most ambitious and splendid operatic score.

Premiere recording of this production.

Christian Thielemann’s first opera performance at the Salzburg Festival.

First opera from Salzburg Festival to be released on Opus Arte.

Extra features include 'Christian Thielemann rehearses 'Die Frau Ohne Schatten', and cast gallery.

Running time: 220 minutes

Subtitles: EN/FR/DE/ES

Sound format: 2.0LPCM + 5.1(5.0) DTS

Set by Setsu Asakura

Arthaus presents a rare document of an early nineties operatic highlight: the Japanese premiere of Wolfgang Sawallisch’s last production at the Bavarian State Opera. The Company’s tour of Nagoya and Tokyo in autumn 1992 under director and principal conductor Wolfgang Sawallisch was a particularly important event. Sawallisch was celebrating both the twenty-fi fth anniversary of his fi rst appearance as visiting guest conductor of the NHK Symphony Orchestra in Tokyo and his departure, after twenty-one years, from his two principal posts with the Bavarian State Opera in Munich. Sawallisch - an acclaimed interpreter of the music of Richard Strauss - chose Die Frau ohne Schatten to commemorate these anniversaries. Through the many years that Sawallisch had worked in Japan, he had developed a profound affi nity with the country and its people and his respect for, and intimate knowledge of, the Japanese art scene made him choose a Japanese production team around director and kabuki actor Ennosuke Ichikawa for the new production. Reviews of the performances in Nagoya and Tokyo were likewise enthusiastic.

Asahi headed: “The wondrous harmony of form and singing: The sensuality of stage lighting and colour that is cultivated in Japan, together with the sensuality of the actors’ movements, harmonizes well with the European expressiveness of the music.”

Sound Format: PCM Stereo, DD 5.1, DTS 5.1

Picture Format: 4:3

DVD Format: 1xDVD 5, 1xDVD 9 / NTSC

Subtitle Languages: GB, DE, FR, ES, IT

Running Time: 183 mins

FSK: 0