Die Frau ohne Schatten Tickets

Otherworldly: Tickets for Die Frau ohne Schatten On Sale Now

Strauss’s mythological epic Die Frau ohne Schatten returns to the Met Opera, led by musical director Yannick Nézet-Séguin. A treat for soloists and orchestras alike, Die Frau ohne Schatten is a highly symbolic opera in three acts, that tells the story of two troubled marriages, both otherworldly and human. You won’t want to miss this masterwork - featuring two orchestras and powerful vocal performances, this is a production that certainly doesn’t hide in the shadows.

What is Die Frau ohne Schatten about?

Die Frau ohne Schatten, which translates to The Woman Without a Shadow, is set in the mythical Empire of the South Eastern Islands, and follows the half-spirit Empress, her husband the Emperor, Barak - a lowly dyer, who is desperate to have a child- and his wife.

The Empress is the daughter of Keikobad, the king of the spirit world, a spirit being who was captured by the Emperor in the form of a gazelle. After marrying, she has assumed and become trapped in her human shape - and she can bear no children, and has no shadow. The Empress's father decrees that unless she obtains a shadow before a year has passed in her marriage, he will reclaim her for the spirit world and her husband, the Emperor, will be turned to stone. In desperation, the Empress seeks the shadow of another, the dyer's wife, whose marriage has troubles of its own…

Weaving between the palace and the dyer's humble home, the forest and realm of Keikobad, Die Frau ohne Schatten is a true tour de force about love and marriage, desire and the search for fulfilment in a barren world.

“Perhaps the richest and most humane of Strauss’s operas” (New York Times) Die Frau ohne Schatten is ambitious and complex and requires the very best performers - calling for both onstage and full pit orchestras, including woodwinds and brass, as well as a thunder machine and organ, glass harmonica, two celestas, and a percussion section featuring a slapstick, castanets, and Chinese gongs.

Cast and Creatives

Strauss’s demanding score requires an otherworldly cast, and this spectacular ensemble is led by three sopranos: Elza van den Heever (Fidelio, Walküre) as the magical Empress, Lise Lindstrom (Siegfried, The Ring Cycle) as the Dyer’s Wife, and Nina Stemme (Der fliegende Holländer, Tristan und Isolde) as the Nurse. Baritone Michael Volle (Arabella, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg) plays Barak, the dyer, with tenor Russell Thomas (Don Carlo, La Boheme) as the Emperor and bass-baritone Ryan Speedo Green (Turandot, Il Trovatore) as the Spirit Messenger.

Often considered his masterwork, Die Frau ohne Schatten is composed by Richard Strauss, with a libretto by Strauss’s long-time collaborator, poet Hugo von Hofmannsthal. It premiered at the Vienna State Opera on 10 October 1919 and has had many stagings and recordings. Previous performances at the Met stretch as far back as 1966, with the most recent Met production staged in 2013.

Canadian-born conductor and pianist Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts. Nézet-Séguin is the Jeanette Lerman-Neubauer Music Director for the Metropolitan Opera and took up the role beginning from the 2018-2019 season. Nézet-Séguin made his company debut with the Met in 2009 and has since directed over 200 performances of 24 operas, as well as numerous concerts and galas with the Met Orchestra both at Carnegie Hall and on international tours. He has received four Grammy Awards (of 13 nominations), most recently winning for his conducting work on the Met’s recording of Terence Blanchard's Champion.

Book Tickets Now for Die Frau ohne Schatten at the Met Opera

So don’t be kept in the dark - book now for Die Frau ohne Schatten at the Metropolitan Opera. Experience Strauss’s masterwork in the flesh, and allow yourself to be swept away into this fantastical world of desire and longing.