Mme. The Tuesday, June 20 performance of Richard Strauss and Hugo von Hofmannsthals Die Frau ohne Schatten will be streamed live at 7 p.m. PT. it is Stravinskys dry neo-classicism). Like many fairy tales, Die Frau ohne Schatten is made of wishes and curses, menace and grace, human striving and supernatural forces, all of it wrapped up in a happy ending. $10 per lecture. "[Nina]Stemme's voice harkens back to a golden age of opera while simultaneously proclaiming her as a dramatic soprano built for the twenty-first century. Few opera houses are capable of staging the work. He too projected the humanity of his role, providing the warmth of character that librettist von Hofmannstahl and Strauss sought, winning our sympathy by sparing his donkey a weight of burden, and expressing his fear that he would not be able to feed his eventual children. The Wife curtly informs him of the impending stay of her "cousins" and goes off to her separate bed. The vision fades as Barak returns with his hungry brothers and a group of beggar children. The Empress, awakening, is torn between love for her husband and sorrow for Barak. He sees the Empress and Nurse surreptitiously enter the lodge, and is suspicious. (The American premiere . Opera Previews | SFO - San Francisco Opera The mens voices fell shorter than that of the women, although Johan Reuters bass-baritone stayed sonorous throughout and provided a well-needed counter to the high reaches traveled by the womens voices. He first thinks of using an arrow, and then his sword, and then his bare hands. Productions like this, rare though they be, are why we live in hope every time we go to the opera. The late Ian Falconers costumes cut across the color realms, yet with the dazzling contrast of royaltys vermillion and gold robes straight out of Persian miniatures. In a dream, she sees the Emperor enter her father's realm. As her sense of possibilities expanded with promises of love and riches from the steely Nurse and ambivalent Empress, the effortless power and lustrous shine of Stemmes voice captured the characters emotional turbulence and labile responses. Scene 2On rocky steps leading to the great temple door, the Messenger of Keikobad awaits a boat that brings the Empress to the temple in search of her husband. It is a huge orchestra playing big music about what, one is not sure. For more information, contact John C. Morris, Education Program Manager,jmorris@sfopera.com. All photos courtesy of San Francisco Opera, photos of the Hockney production are copyright Cory Weaver. He has lectured worldwide on Wagner, served for several years as lecturer for English-speaking audiences at the Bayreuth Festival, and has spoken on a wide range of operas at both opera houses and opera guilds worldwide. Like many fairy tales, Die Frau ohne Schatten is made of wishes and curses, menace and grace, human striving and supernatural forces, all of it wrapped up in a happy ending. A choir of angelic unborn children ultimately underscores the case, in a decidedly pro-life, anti-choice message to contemporary ears. San Francisco Opera expanded its pit in 1976 to accommodate enlarged 19th and 20th century orchestras, and specifically at that moment to entice legendary conductor Karl Bhm to conduct Die Frau ohne Schatten. Whatever misgivings one might have about the story and its implications, Fraus peak moments were transporting on Sunday. We really get Baraks dye vat, skeins of yarn, and broken mortarand an amusing sprouting tree of a fountain. Nina Stemma was so immersed in the role that she literally became Baraks wife (she is given no other name). "-Opera News, "The extraordinary San Francisco Opera productionwas a blockbuster success on every level musically, dramatically, visually and theatrically. A count condemned her mother to be burned as a witch. The Emperor David Butt Philip * Revival Lighting Designer Justin A. Partier Acclaimed San Francisco composer Mason Bates and Pulitzer-winning librettist Mark Campbell, brings home to the Bay Area this Grammy award-winning opera. He is principal speaker at the annual exciting Opera at Oakhurst weekend in the California Sierras has authored four books on German theater (two of them on Wagner) as well as serving as co-editor of the first English-language History of German Theatre, and chief editor of the Cambridge Encyclopedia of Stage Actors and Acting. Hofmannsthal handles Goethe's material freely, adding the idea of two couples, the emperor and empress who come from another realm, and the dyer and his wife who belong to the ordinary world. Baraks One-Armed Brother Wayne Tigges In 1959, San Francisco Opera General Director Kurt Herbert Adler enlisted 27-year-old French director and designer Jean-Pierre Ponnelle to create a production for the U.S. premiere of the opera in San Francisco. Die Frau ohne Schatten in San Francisco - Opera Today opera debut Die Frau ohne Schatten involves 25 principals, with a total 110 personnel. The Messenger of Keikobad emerges from the temple and dooms the Nurse to wander in the mortal world. Steven Winn is a San Francisco-based writer and critic and frequent interviewer for City Arts & Lectures. Die Frau ohne Schatten | SFO - San Francisco Opera At the Dyer's house, the Dyer is drugged into sleep by the Nurse. He has had a magnificent day at the market, selling all his goods, and has invited everyone to celebrate. Lineup. Gradually, the Dyers Wife weakens before the Nurses visions of luxury, agreeing to deny Barak during the three days that the visitors will act as her servants. The Emperor was sung by British tenor David Butt Philip whose voice is very beautiful indeed. While the piece calls for heroic singing none more scintillating than that of soprano Nina Stemme in this production the greatness of the work inheres in the character, musical poetry, and narrative spine of the orchestral score. Our federal tax ID is 94-0836240, sfpl.org/events/2023/06/02/author-shadow-empress. Keikobad is a variant spelling of the name of the Sasanian king Kovad and the mythical Iranian king Kai Kobad from the Kayanian dynasty in the Shahnameh (book of kings) by Ferdowsi. OPERA NEWS, COMMENTARY, AND REVIEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD. Every exciting issue takes you onstage and behind the scenes with lively stories on artists and opera companies, performance reviews and insightful commentary. Richard Strauss. Barak sighs and lies down to sleep on the floor. The Swedish soprano returns to SF Opera to tackle the challenging character of the Dyers Wife in Die Frau ohne Schatten. Metropolitan Opera | Die Frau ohne Schatten Roy Rallo directs the production, which also features the work of San Francisco Opera Lighting Director Justin A. Partier, as revival lighting designer. They descend to the human world. Early on, in her workaday life with her oblivious husband Barak (bass-baritone Johan Reuter, in a growly, shambolic turn), Stemmes Wife registered in clipped, almost perfunctory phrases. Metropolitan Opera | Die Frau ohne Schatten Landmark Die Frau ohne Schatten Broadcast on Sunday Addison-Penzak JCC Silicon Valley, 14855 Oka Road, Suite 201, Los Gatos. Armed with nothing but a magic flute and magic bells, a prince and a bird-catcher embark on a perilous journey to rescue a kidnapped princess only to discover that their adversary may actually be their ally. Cory Weaver/San Francisco Opera, by John Bender | Jun 16, 2023 | Featured, Reviews. His brothers restrain him as the Wife declares her remorse and urges Barak to kill her. Former music director Donald Runnicles returned to San Francisco Opera for this production, as he has for the two recent Wagner Ring cycles. Stemme, who received the San Francisco Opera Medal onstage during Sundays curtain calls, gave a performance as the Dyers Wife that ranged from gritty to gilded, earthy to harrowing, and altogether glorious. The true story of a 19th century Islamic scholar from West Africa, enslaved in South Carolina, but finding identity and faith through the written word. Far beneath their magical domain live the earthly Barak, a dyer of cloth, and his rebellious wife, suffocated by his sincere dullness and his crazy, deformed family. Presented by San Francisco Opera. Beginning 55 minutes prior to curtain, the 25-minute Pre-Opera Talks are open to ticket holders for the corresponding performance. Die Frau ohne Schatten Opera Previews | SFO - San Francisco Opera The opera returned in 1976 in a production by Nikolaus Leinhoff from the Stockholm Opera designed by Jorg Zimmermann, its 1980 San Francisco revival notable for Brigit Nilssons Dyers Wife. In contrast to the quickly-moving Salome and Elektra, it includes extended monologues and scenes. Admission ($10) payable only at the door; no tickets or reservations are necessary. San Francisco-born Linda Watson makes her long-overdue Company debut as the Nurse. It is revealed that after being attacked by the red falcon that the Emperor is seeking, she lost a talisman that gave transformation powers, and on which was inscribed a curse that foresaw the fate she and the Emperor are about to face if she does not acquire a shadow. From outside the Town Watchmen are heard singing of the importance of conjugal love. Our federal tax ID is 94-0836240. Die Frau ohne Schatten (The Woman without a Shadow), Strauss,R Opera: Staged , San Francisco Opera | San Francisco, United States. First Presbyterian Church of Palo Alto, Chapel, 1140 Cowper Street,Palo Alto. At two p.m., the curtain rose with Sir Donald Runnicles, renowned Strauss conductor, at the helm. The dyer Barak was sung by Danish bass-baritone Johan Reuter. Three sopranos discuss their roles in Strauss's most complex opera Living as a servant to the Barak clan, the abstracted Empress develops empathy and cannot bring herself to take away the shadow. Die Frau ohne Schatten | San Francisco Opera | Operabase The Nurse conjures up the apparition of a young man to whom the Dyers Wife is attracted; the Empress, however, is troubled. Librettist. All that matched the saturated color palette of David Hockneys brilliantly inventive biomorphic sets, brought to vivid life by Justin A. Partiers realization of Alan Burretts original lighting design for the 1992 production. The San Francisco Chronicle proclaims this production as a "blockbuster success on every level", Approximately 3 hours 47 minutes including two intermissions. Receive the latest news delivered straight to your inbox with a digest of all the latest events, reviews, and hot deals. Barak and his Wife are reunited and she regains her own shadow. Choir director John Keene stirred the chorus to new heights, while choreographer Colm Seery staged the dancers and Dave Maier orchestrated the fight scenes. Steven Winn on June 6, 2023. And OperaWire came about as a desire to take in as much of it and allow the passionate fan base access to everything this wondrous art form has to offer on a daily basis. The operas many other fantastical characters such as the Falcon and Voices of Unborn Children will be performed by recent Adler Fellow Elisa Sunshine and current Adlers Arianna Rodriguez, Mikayla Sager, Olivia Smith, Gabrielle Beteag, Nikola Printz and Victor Cardamone. Make a gift that's meaningful to you today and start enjoying the perks of membership! Richard Strauss: Die Frau ohne Schatten - Opera in three acts - YouTube Learn how and when to remove this template message, International Music Score Library Project, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Die_Frau_ohne_Schatten&oldid=1162617118, This page was last edited on 30 June 2023, at 06:22. She takes the stage again at the War Memorial Opera House this season, performing the role of the Dyer's Wife in Richard Strauss's Die Frau ohne Schatten (The woman without a shadow) June 4-28. The opera will be live streamed on June 20 and will be available to watch on demand for 48 hours beginning on Wednesday, June 21 at 10 a.m. PT.