R. Strauss: Die Frau ohne Schatten

For many people, FROSCH (FRau Ohne SCHatten - Strauss and Hofmannsthal's pet name for their project while writing it and meaning `frog') - is Strauss's greatest opera. It is certainly his most ambitious. He and his librettist, Hofmannsthal, thought it was their best work together and its claims are strong. At the last count, however, it must be said that it lacks the consistency of, say, the two one-acters, Salome and Elektra or the charm of Rosenkavalier. Nevertheless, it's still my favourite Strauss opera.

Hofmannsthal's libretto is dense, complex and prolix, too much so probably for an opera. Indeed, so taken was he with his work that he felt it necessary to write a prose work, known as the Erzahlung (Narration), to stand alongside the opera scenario, elaborate it and explain it - though it's questionable whether it really does add that much to our understanding. And therein, perhaps, lies the fatal flaw, for it is when the libretto is at its densest and most obtuse, when Hofmannshal starts `philosophising', that Strauss's music is at its weakest and most reduced to mere `note-spinning' as his wife, Pauline, called it. Poor old Strauss, God bless him, just couldn't keep up - or maybe he was just too much a man of the theatre to accommodate so much word-spinning.

For all that, the piece is still packed with glorious music, wondrous orchestration - with a huge orchestra often used with chamber-group delicacy - and a great sense of music-drama when called for. It is perhaps, Strauss's most Wagnerian work. Certainly the use of leitmotiven is the most complex and refined of any Strauss work. Like the Meister's own motifs, Strauss's are often very brief, just a phrase or even just a few notes in many cases. But they develop a life of their own, spawning other motifs and changing themselves to reflect the psychological development of the characters or to dramatically contradict what is being said. It is certainly a fascinating opera, both musically and dramatically.

And Solti on this recording believes the opera should stand or fall on its own merits. He is alone on disc, I think, in recording the score absolutely complete. All the cuts that are usually made in the theatre are opened out. These cuts have often been crippling, particularly to the Third Act. Here we have the crucial scene with the Amme in its entirety as she protests her self-righteousness and is eventually banished back to the world of men that she hates so much. Here also is the full melodrama as the Kaiserin reaches her father's inner sanctum with the long and sometimes awkward lines of spoken monologue, leading up to her final resigned `Ich will nicht' refusal to take up the errant shadow of the title. And Julia Varady shows herself an accomplished actor in delivering them.

Solti says in the accompanying notes, `Die Frau ohne Schatten has always been one of the greatest loves of my operatic life.' And it shows. He elicits the most glorious playing from the Vienna Philharmonic - from the weight of the Keikobad motif at the very start of the opera, the immense darkness of the `turning to stone' motif, the bold heroism of the Kaiser, the delicacy of the magical dawn that rises over the Kaiserin, the glow of the strings in the interlude depicting Barak's goodness to the quiet finale of Act 1 with the call of the Nightwatchmen. And that's just Act 1. The long cello solo before the Kaiserin's dream sequence and the solo violin as she enters the temple are both wonderfully played and the big Strauss orchestra in full cry in the final interlude is a joy to hear.

The cast, too, are very strong. Leonie Rysanek made the part of the Kaiserin so much her own for so many years that it comes as something of a surprise to hear the slightly lighter voice of Julia Varady in the part. But I'm convinced that this is more the voice that Strauss had in mind - she negotiates the coloratura passages with more delicacy and refinement but still has the range and the power for some of those hair-raising leaps. Behrens, as with everything this much lamented singer did, makes of the Farberin a highly dramatic character - not just an embittered shrew, but rising to real humanity and strength in the final act. Barak could have been the part for which Jose van Dam's ultra-smooth, light brown baritone was designed. And Domingo, needless to say, brings superb weight of tone and lyrical lift to the Kaiser - it is only the words that are at times a little vague: even he can make little sense of the Kaiser's impenetrable solo after he has been brought back to life. Reinhild Runkel is the one weak link in the chain. She has the voice for the Amme - right down to those scary low G's - but she never really penetrates the depths of this ambivalent character, perhaps the most psychologically demanding role since Kundry.

If only for its completeness, this set would be worth getting. But it is much more than that. As a labour of love from Solti's last years, it shines through as probably the most convincing and certainly the most gloriously played and recorded performance of this ever-fascinating opera.

This glorious opera contains some of Strauss's very greatest, sumptuous and heart-warming music,superlativey orchestrated for a huge orchestra (too big for some orchestra pits) and fully matched by a great cast and the greatest post-war Strauss conductor.

The opera has been criticized for its obscure symbolism. I think it is enough to see its main theme as that of love, contrasting the Emperor and Empress's with that of the Dyer and his Wife, with true, self-sacrificing love winning in the end.

The sound recording is a triumph too - the balance between singers and orchestra is perfect with great depth to the orchestral sound, which is beautifully balanced and blended (Solti had his part to play in this as well, of course). Domingo sings with the most ardent, golden tone. José van Dam is another highly intelligent singer - intelligent enough, like Domingo, to be ready to learn from all Solti's experience of Strauss's music. Behrens and Varady both give deeply moving, empassioned performances, the latter's portrayal being a particular triumph.

A must-have which could never be outclassed.

This recording is so nearly great, irritatingly so. The problem is the casting: Julia Varady is just perfect, singing like a true Empress throughout. The vulnerability is evident in the voice which the role demands, as well as the majesty that this mastersinger always brings to her work. Hildegard Behrens as the Dyer's wife is as perfect as ever, always enlightening and insightful, never just belting like Birgit Nilsson (with all due respect). Jose van Dam is simply unsurpassed as Barak, the Dyer. As the voice of the Falcon, Sumi Jo is the only exponent to sing this small part like a real role, rather than a bit part, which is so common in most performances nowadays; the voice always beautifully placed and sensitively sung.
The remaining principal cast are the problem. Reinhild Runkel as the Nurse is just to blowsy to seem menacing, not even coming close to Marjana Lipovsek at the Salzburg Festival (also for Solti, on DVD). The Emperor of Placido Domingo is awful: The once great tenor just sounds tired, his German is dreadful, unidiomatic and unstylistic. We really needed Thomas Moser here (from the same performance as Lipovsek).
As always, Sir Georg Solti is magnificent in Strauss, inspiring unequalled playing from great Vienna Philharmonic.