Click here!

The Woman without a Shadow (Die Frau ohne Schatten)

The Woman without a Shadow (Die Frau ohne Schatten)Photo: Natasha Razina

Part of EIF 2011

When spirits enter the human world they can bring only ruin. The daughter of the King of the Spirits is barren - she is a woman without a shadow. Her father has threatened that if she doesn't cast a shadow before the end of the twelfth moon, her husband, the Emperor, will be turned to stone. Only a human woman can help her...

An unhappy young wife, married to a poor dyer, is tempted by thoughts of a luxurious life, free from the numbing boredom and drudgery of her daily existence. All she has to do is give up her shadow. Die Frau ohne Schatten is a sublime operatic fantasy in which the lives of humans and spirits become ever more tragically intertwined. Read more …

Requiring huge forces, Die Frau ohne Schatten boasts perhaps Strauss's most sumptuous score, poignantly illuminating the magic, mystery and earthy warmth of Hugo von Hofmannsthal's characters. Led by Valery Gergiev, this epic production from St Peterburg's famed Mariinsky Opera is a collaboration between two British artists, director Jonathan Kent and designer Paul Brown. Die Frau ohne Schatten is a spectacular and opulent dramatic tour de force, radiantly evoking the contrasts between the spirit world and human existence.

More information on this production is available at eif.co.uk.

The critical consensus

Conductor Valery Gergiev leads a performance in which the score is all present and correct, though it has some rough edges.

George Hall, The Stage, 02/09/2011

Where and when?

Festival Theatre, Edinburgh from Thursday September 1, 2011, until Saturday September 3, 2011. More info: http://www.edtheatres.com/festival

Comments: 0 (Add)

To post a comment, you need to sign in or register. Forgotten password? Click here.

Find a show


Search the site


Find us on …

Find us on FacebookFollow us on TwitterFind us on YouTube