SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL

Strauss, Die Frau ohne Schatten: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of Lyric Opera of Chicago, Sir Andrew David (conductor), Lyric Opera of Chicago, Chicago 9.12.2007 (JLZ)

Production:

Stage Director: Paul Curran
Set and Costume Designer: Kevin Knight
Lighting Designer: David Jacques
Ballet Mistress: August Tye
Chorus Master:  Donald Nally
Choreographer: Andrew George

Cast :
Empress: Deborah Voigt
Dyer's Wife: Christine Brewer
Emperor: Robert Dean Smith
Barak: Franz Hawlata
Nurse: Jill Grove
Geisterbote (Spirit Messenger): Quinn Kelsey
Falke (Voice of the Falcon): Stacey Tappan
Hunchbacked Brother: John Easterlin
One-Eyed Brother: Daniel Sutin
One-Armed Brother: Andrew Funk

Additional cast:
Andriana Chuchman
Marjorie Owens
Amber Wagner
Elizabeth De Shong
Meredith Arwady
Daniel Billings
Phillip Dothard
Paul Corona
Bryan Griffin

Since its premiere in 1919,  Strauss's Die Frau ohne Schatten has held the stage in various styles of productions that continually bring the opera to new audiences. Hugo von Hoffmannstal's libretto offers a kind of morality plan about humanity, forgiveness, and redemption  within its overt fairy-tale elements and as such brings to the stage various ideas that intersect with some of Strauss's other operas. Because of its affinities with fairy tales and overt symbolism, some compare Die Frau ohne Schatten with Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, with both works eliciting lively responses about interpretation. More than that, Die Frau ohne Schatten remains one of Strauss's most appealing works, and with its new production for the 2007-2008 season,  Lyric Opera of Chicago succeeds in presenting this important opera intelligibly and artistically.

The concepts behind Lyric's production supported the narrative of the opera well, with the loomy space of the otherworldly palace contrasting the more confined quarters assigned to the human world of the Dyer and his family. While most of the action in the first two acts moved between those two settings, the Empress's hunting scene with the falcon used the height of the stage to fine effect, with the human-scale bird juxtaposed to almost the full expanse of the visible flyspace. Likewise, the entrance of the Emperor on the horse contributed to the tasteful stage magic that is essential to other scenes in the opera. With the third act, the challenge of portraying loci in another world benefited from sensitive suggestion of the various places without overly ornamented or detailed scene-painting. As minimal as it was, the use of beams of light to indicate the  underground chambers for the Dyer and the Dyer's Wife in the first scene of the third act allowed the audience to concentrate on the music and text: the almost-touching hands made the desire to reconnect even more tantalizing than if the pair were separated by some sort of barrier. As dark as some of the settings of the third act may be, the globes that accompany the unborn children at the end of the opera used the contrast of the light with the sometimes oppressive darkness that preceded it extremely skilfully.

 

Yet it is the music that matters, and Lyric succeeded in rendering it well. One of Strauss's more demanding works for the stage, Die Frau ohne Schatten requires the excellent cast found in this production. In the title role Deborah Voigt embodies the Empress vocally and physically. Ms Voigt captures the character well and demonstrates her facility in this role, which fits her voice perfectly She met all the demands of the part deftly, and conveyed them with grace and ease. Her dynamic levels balanced the varied  orchestral textures encountered in this work, not only in the fuller passages, but also in some of the chamber-music like sections.  Her diction and pitch were effective throughout the performance, as was her stage presence: even though the Empress does not sing extensively, her physical presence is part of all but a few scenes in the opera. Ms Voigt is fully in her element in this challenging and rewarding role. Known to Lyric audiences for various roles, including Salome, she is an attractive Empress, and her command of the role is impressive. She is particularly effective in the penultimate scene of the third act, where the Empress decides not to take the easy route in helping herself, but to leave the Dyer's Wife her shadow and so  preserves the Dyer's marriage. Ms Voigt shimmers in this scene, which includes music that calls to mind the Ewigkeit-Motiv from Wagner's Siegfried (an idea that Mahler also developed in his Second Symphony).

Likewise, Jill Grove was also memorable as the Nurse, a character who accompanies the Empress throughout much of the opera. Her rich, flexible mezzo made her portrayal stand out for the for its consistent sound and fine tone. Tone was consistently resonant throughout the differing registers required by this role, especially the passages that move into the higher parts of her instrument. Phrasing and diction shaped the various exchanges with the Empress and other characters elegantly, and her acting made the role work. As the vehicle for some of the magic that must occur in various scenes, the Nurse must have a fine sense of timing, and Ms Grove certainly contributes that . All in all, she was compelling as the Nurse, and clearly the role works well for this fine performer.

The Dyer's Wife has yet other demands, but  Christine Brewer made light of the difficulties. As the sometimes peevish wife of a human purveyor of dye, this woman is not exactly pleased with her lot, and in the course of the opera her character must grow to appreciating her husband and her marriage with him. Ms Brewer uses the appropriate vocal edge to convey the dissatisfaction of the Dyer's Wife during the first scenes in which she appears, and the incredulous wonder at the temptations offered her later  appeared wholly believable.  Yet  the abruptness in character never affected Brewer's vocal delivery, which was always reliable and inviting. Her performance was most persuasive at the end of the second act, where she lies to the Dyer about selling her shadow and then realizes her mistake; and the first scene of the third act, where she acknowledges her feelings for the Dyer in the scene that has both of the characters imprisoned.

The latter scene (Act III , scene 1) is one of the more touching points of Die Frau ohne Schatten, and Lyric did  well to make it integrate. With each of the two characters declaring their feelings about each other in close proximity, yet never actually addressing each other directly, the scene is crucial to understanding the powerful reunion of the pair at the opera's ending -  Strauss composed interjections from the Dyer and his Wife in the subsequent scenes, but those portions were cut from this production. The staging of the two individuals confined in shafts of light and coming nearer  to each other showed their apparent separation, yet the music itself presaged the renewed commitment that would occur when their lines intersect later in the scene -  including a reminiscence of the Finale from Der Rosenkavalier. Ms  Brewer worked well with Franz Hawlata in this scene and others, and the dynamism between them and others in the cast made this a memorable production of Die Frau.

Hawlata himself is a fine Dyer, and his shaping of the role stood in contrast to his more aggressive role as Baron Ochs in Lyric's Rosenkavalier in a recent season. His bass-baritone timbre was pleasant and his singing precise. At the same time,  Roger Dean Smith made the taxing role of the Emperor sound effortless. His extended scene with the Falcon demonstrated his fine stage presence and effective pacing of his part and  he made a strong and clear cointribution to the pivotal quartet at the end of the opera. In fact, this concluding ensemble defined this production, with its balanced cast of world-class performers. The principals, the additional voices, and the chorus placed in the wings, worked together practically seamlessly. Led by Sir Andrew Davis, this production of Die Frau ohne Schatten left a lasting impression for its excellent presentation of this extraordinary opera.


James L. Zychowicz

 

All pictures © Lyric Opera of Chicago

 

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