Details

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. Sung in German with English surtitles. Running time: 4hrs (inclu. two intervals)

Cast/Performers

Emily Magee (Empress), Michaela Schuster (Nurse), Elena Pankratova (Barak's wife), Johan Botha (Emperor), Johan Reuter (Barak), Jeremy White (One-Armed Brother), Hubert Francis (Hunchback Brother), Adrian Clarke (One-Eyed Brother), Ashley Holland (Spirit Messenger), Anush Hovhannisyan (Voice of the Falcon), Dusica Bijelic (Guardian of the Threshold), Catherine Carby (Voice from Above), Andrew Rees (Apparition of a Youth), Michel de Souza (First Nightwatchman), Jihoon Kim (Second Nightwatchman), Ana James (Voice of Unborn Child), Kiandra Howarth (Voice of Unborn Child), Nadezhda Karyazina (Voice of Unborn Child)

Creatives/Company

Music: Richard Strauss
Lyrics: Hugo von Hofmannsthal
Producer(s): Royal Opera, La Scala Milan
Director: Claus Guth
Design(s): Christian Schmidt, Andi Muller (video)
Lighting: Olaf Winter
Dramaturg: Ronny Dietrich
Conductor: Semyon Bychkov