Women's Voices in Music and Vision 28 Giugno

Women's Voices 'Die Frau ohne Schatten' at the Strauss Festival in Leipzig, reviewed by GIUSEPPE PENNISI Die Frau ohne Schatten is seldom performed outside the German speaking world because of the tremendous means it requires: twenty four principals, a huge orchestra (with violas and cellos in double sections as well as the violins, mostly quadruple winds, extensive percussion including glass harmonica, and offstage woodwind septet, a dozen extra brass, a wind machine and a thunder machine), a double chorus and a children's chorus. No less demanding are the staging requirements: eleven changes of set (in three acts, lasting about four hours), most of them without even a short intermission — there are seven intermezzi, all on the same leitmotif) and a series of special effects, including singers descending from an upper stage to a lower stage, fountains and waterfalls appearing on the stage, an earthquake, a fire, and one of the protagonists being turned into a statue. Some thirty years ago, a Jean Pierre Ponnelle production for La Scala attempted to solve these problems by making use of highly stylized Chinese theatre. The production was also seen in Florence. A Yannis Kokkos production ('Difficult to Forget', 2 May 2010) followed very traditional lines; the production was difficult to forget for its splendor, but almost made the theatre bankrupt. An excellent production was seen at the Salzburg Summer Festival a few years ago ('Faith and the Devil', 22 August 2011). Only major houses, such as the Metropolitan Opera, where a Herbert Wernicke production has been running for a few seasons, can afford to stage it. Leipzig Opera House, with advertising for Wagner's 'Ring'. Photo © 2016 Ida Zenna. Click on the image for higher resolution In Leipzig, the stage direction (Balàsz Kovalik), the sets by Heike Scheele and the costumes by Sebastian Ellrich follow quite closely the rather extravagant libretto: a mixture of Oriental fairy tales with a clear message to procreate children. A scene from 'Die Frau ohne Schatten' at Leipzig Opera. Photo © 2014 Kirsten Nijhof. Click on the image for higher resolution The opera was conceived after the 'useless carnage', as Pope Benedict XVI called World War I, in a letter to all governments involved in the conflict. The message is also valid now, especially in Europe where births are declining. The time of the action, however, is not set in a mythical Oriental world but in Germany at an undefined period: the Imperial Palace and dining room recall Bismarck's times, whereas the low cost housing seems to belong to the nineteen fifties. This blend fits the score quite well — a huge expressionistic picture with a few set pieces. The protagonists are two women in search for child bearing happiness: One an ethereal spirit (The Empress) and the other an all too real woman (the Dyer's Wife, ie 'Die Frau'). Apart from their baffled husbands and the ambiguous nurse, the other characters provide only colors and celestial commentaries. In his old age, Richard Strauss, who considered Die Frau as his best and most beloved opera, attempted to compose a 'chamber music' version with a smaller orchestra, fewer characters but the same philosophical message. Nothing of this attempt survives. Ulf Schirmer mastered the one-hundred-and-ten-strong orchestra quite well, with some moments for a few soloists (violin, cello and bassoon). On the evening I was in the theatre, 18 June 2017, one of the protagonists (Jennifer Wilson as 'Die Frau') turned sick just a few hours before the opera started. She was replaced by one of the world's best singers of this role, Elena Pankratova, who sang on the side of the stage because she did not know the staging. An actress played the part on stage. Elena Pankratova. Photo © S Hoppe. Click on the image for higher resolution Strauss had a special liking for women's voices. In Die Frau ohne Schatten there is a real apotheosis of women's voices in the three major roles: a dramatic soprano ('Die Frau'), a lyric soprano (The Empress, Simone Schneider) and a mezzo descending to the register of an alto (The Nurse, Karin Lovelius). The intertwining of their voices (and of twelve other women on stage) produced an excellent outcome, also thanks to the conductor Ulf Schirmer and the Leipzig Opera House acoustics. In the men's group, I'm giving a special mention to baritone Franz Grundheber (Barak, the dyer) who is also a first class actor. In an engrossing manner he juxtaposes his simple and genuine suffering with the pains of the Emperor, at the moment when both believe that they have been betrayed by their respective wives. Franz Grundheber The audience was enchanted. Copyright © 28 June 2017 Giuseppe Pennisi, Rome, Italy This Leipzig Balàsz Kovalik production has also been reviewed by Roderic Dunnett: Versatility and Intelligence, 7 December 2014. Earlier the same year, Alice McVeigh reviewed a Covent Garden production featuring Elena Pankratova in the title role: Exploration and Discovery, 24 March 2014. RICHARD STRAUSS LEIPZIG OPERA LEIPZIG GERMANY FIRST WORLD WAR  << M&V home       Concert reviews        Beate Toyka >>