STRAUSS Die Frau ohne Schatten

**** Performance **** Recording
^{'Gergiev coaxes some magnificent playing from his Mariinsky Orchestra.'} _{BBC Music Magazine}
La Clef du mois _ResMusica
Le Diamant d’Opéra _Opéra

Artists
Details
Reviews

Valery Gergiev musical director & conductor
Mariinsky Orchestra & Chorus

Avgust Amonov The Emperor
Mlada Khudoley The Empress
Olga Savova The Nurse
Edem Umerov Barak, a dyer
Olga Sergeyeva Barak's Wife
Evgeny Ulanov Messenger of the Spirits
Liudmila Dudinova Guard of the Entrance to the Temple
Alexander Timchenko The Vision of a Youth
Tatiana Kravtsova The Voice of a Falcon
Lydia Bobokhina A Heavenly Voice

The Dyer's Brothers
Andrei Spekhov The One-Eyed Man
Nikolai Kamensky The One-Armed Man
Andrei Popov The Hunchback
Running Time 203m

A production by the State Academic Mariinsky Theatre, in arrangement with EuroArts Music International

Filmed December 2011 at the Mariinsky Theatre,
St Petersburg. Performed in German

Henning Kasten Director

FORMATS

MAR0543 DVD
UPC 822231854326
DVD9 (Region 0 - Worldwide)
NTSC 16:9
2.0 PCM stereo
5.1 Dolby Surround
5.1 DTS

MAR0544 Blu-ray
UPC 822231853824
BD50 (All regions)
HD 1080i60 (NTSC)
2.0 PCM stereo
5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio

Notes in English / en Français / auf Deutsch / на русском языке
Diamant Opéra Magazine

La Clef du mois ResMusica

**** Performance **** Recording
'Valery Gergiev coaxes some magnificent playing from his Mariinsky orchestra with that extraordinary style that seems to rely on little more than grasping a toothpick. The Act II interludes are sumptuous with the brass and woodwind in particularly fine fettle. But it's Gergiev's attention to detail that really counts with nothing smudged or generalised in his reading of the score.' BBC Music Magazine

'Musically Gergiev presents a fully focused view of the piece, well balanced between the conversational, the lyrical and the grandiose. The virtuosity of the Mariinsky Orchestra is at times mind-blowing, and the violin and cello soloists do their theatre proud.' International Record Review

'Picture and sound values are impressive.'
Classical CD Choice

£11.19 £15.99

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Avgust Amonov, Mlada Khudoley, Valery Gergiev, Mariinsky Orchestra

Die Frau ohne Schatten ('The Woman without a Shadow') is an outstanding display of virtuosity, presenting one of Strauss' most complex and colourful scores. The three-act opera, with libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal, is an exotic fairytale with a strong moral dimension, focusing on themes of the unborn and the supernatural.

Filmed at the historic Mariinsky Theatre in 2011, Die Frau ohne Schatten stars Russian tenor Avgust Amonov as The Emperor, Mlada Khudoley as The Empress, Olga Savova as The Nurse, and is conducted by Valery Gergiev. The Mariinsky Theatre is one of the few opera houses capable of staging Die Frau ohne Schatten, due to the demanding soloist roles, elaborate sets and large orchestral forces required. This epic production, premiered in 2009, is a collaboration between two British artists, director Jonathan Kent and designer Paul Brown, and has become a regular fixture in the opera company's schedule. Kent has a long established relationship with the Mariinsky, and with Strauss in particular.

Watch the trailer here