Richard Strauss’ Die Frau ohne Schatten (The Woman Without a Shadow) is a symbolic and fantastical opera with a libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal which premiered in 1919. It explores themes of love, sacrifice and the search for human fulfilment through the necessity to procreate.
The story revolves around two couples: the Emperor and the Empress, daughter of the spirit king Keikobad, who lacks a shadow, symbolising her inability to bear children. Keikobad decrees that if she does not gain a shadow within three days, the Emperor will turn to stone. With her Nurse, the Empress visits the human world to obtain a shadow. Together they target Barak the Dyer’s Wife, who is unhappy in her marriage and resents her humble life. The Nurse tempts her with visions of a better life if she renounces her fertility and gives her shadow to the Empress. Barak’s Wife ultimately rejects the offer, while the Empress chooses integrity over self-interest, refusing to steal the shadow when she realises it would harm another’s happiness.
With this work, Tobias Kratzer completes his trilogy of Strauss operas at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Arabella and Intermezzo having been shown the past two seasons. As with those works, he has updated the plot to the present. The Royals live in penthouse designer luxury, Barak and his Wife are the owners of a laundromat, complete with washing machines and ironing boards, on a revolving stage of realistic sets and costumes designed by Rainer Sellmaier. Kratzer takes the original premise of the plot and puts a modern spin on it, complete with video screens showing the medical procedures of artificial insemination that Barak’s Wife undergoes when she agrees to become a surrogate mother, or the option of adopting a newborn from rows of cribs serving them up as in a supermarket. He takes the story a step further: Mr and Mrs Barak undergo marriage counselling which, in their case, ends in divorce with both going their separate ways. Barak finds solace in visiting a Kindergarten, where he delights the very real children by bringing them a dog to play with, all the while they sing of the joys of family life.
Mr and Mrs Royal actually do start speaking to each other again after the intriguing Nurse is finally let go and Mrs Royal asserts her will for self-determination. Typically Kratzer, she does this at a baby shower – organised by Keikobad and designed to put her under pressure – where she receives the paternal present of a Frau ohne Schatten score, which she promptly throws away with an emphatic “Ich will nicht”.
Soprano Daniela Köhler was a pallid and cool Empress, her voice and presence lacking any sort of authority until the very end, when she woke up from her semi-trance and asserted her will to have her own way. By contrast, Catherine Foster was a strong-willed Dyer’s Wife, who gave a performance that was absolutely dominated by unquenchable dissatisfaction – she was the most interesting character. Also making the most of a complex personality, Marina Prudenskaya as the Empress’ sinister and elegant Nanny, accomplice of Keikobad. With her expressive mezzo, she was the one who manipulated both ladies and helped them find their own identity... only to be the one who lost out in the end.
Clay Hilley was nowhere near Royal – neither did he master the admittedly challenging vocal acrobatics that Strauss composed for this role, nor did he show anything more than pedestrian bourgeois sentiments of desire for his wife. Barak, on the other hand, was a veritable “good person”, always helping others, always wanting others to be happy. Jordan Shanahan’s interpretation gave expression to these attributes with his warm bass-baritone, a powerfully-voiced and likeable counterpart to his unhappy wife. Also outstanding was bass Patrick Guetti as the Spirit Messenger, here updated to be an Amazon delivery man.
At this, his farewell premiere after 16 years as Music Director at the Deutsche Oper, Sir Donald Runnicles and the excellent orchestra provided a symphonically effervescent sound that, like the production, gradually found its groove. Strauss incorporated almost everything the symphonic heart desires into his gigantic score: string sections divided into many parts, delicate violin and cello solos, chamber music-like intimacy, full brass and percussion blasts.
Kratzer carries his concept to a logical, if unconventional, ending, underlining this complex, psychoanalytically interesting fairy tale. It is no longer about the ability to have children in order to be fulfilled, it is about personal fulfilment, a viewpoint that fully fits in with contemporary mores. It is a fitting finale to this trilogy of Strauss operas, leaving the audience curious for more, as evidenced by overwhelming applause.
