DIE FRAU OHNE SCHATTEN:Strauss
Thielemann; Voigt, Moser, Schnaut, Brendel, Runkel
Original Air Date: 01/05/2002
SID.19430209
This was Thielemann’s high water mark at the Met with a popular production by Herbert Wernicke who died an untimely death not long after this production was premiered in December 2001 (he died in April 2002). Thielemann did the score absolutely uncut for the first time at the Met, and the women on the whole garnered high praise. Schnaut’s voice is not a beautiful one (but Christel Goltz was not exactly Kiri te Kanawa either) but she certainly gets to the heart of the character. I have never been able to tolerate Moser’s voice, and Brendel is caught just a little too late in the day for this. For many of us Barak will always be Walter Berry, but of course those lucky to have seen DFD in Europe it was a fine part for him as well. The main draw here is Thielemann conducting the opera complete, something Bohm never did at the Met, and one of the best outings for Voigt. Still FROSCH has some of the best music Strauss ever wrote, and Thielemann is a master of this score against any competition. Highly recommended.