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Opera on 3

Music: Classical: Opera

Programme presenting rare and fascinating operatic performances

Programme presenting rare and fascinating performances and vividly communicating the immediacy of the live experience

Opera on 3: Strauss: Die Frau ohne Schatten

Performances & Events

Music: Classical

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29/03/2014

Strauss: Die Frau ohne Schatten

BBC Radio 3 - Opera on 3, Strauss: Die Frau ohne Schatten

Semyon Bychkov conducts Strauss's opera Die Frau ohne Schatten in Covent Garden.

Live from the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Semyon Bychkov conducts Strauss's opera Die Frau ohne Schatten, starring Johan Botha, Emily Magee and Michaela Schuster.

Richard Strauss's opera Die Frau ohne Schatten (The Woman without a Shadow) live from London's Royal Opera House, conducted by Semyon Bychkov in a new production by Claus Guth, starring Johan Botha, Emily Magee, Michaela Schuster, Johan Reuter and Elena Pankratova.

Presented by Donald Macleod with guest, Strauss expert William Mival. Including interviews with the conductor, director and singers.

On the surface, the opera is a fairy tale about two contrasting couples and how love can only be truly fulfilled and meaningful through the birth of children. This narrow world view has possibly been the reason why some people have found the story uncongenial. For a long time is was one of the less performed of Strauss's works. However in recent productions the complex web of symbols at work in the piece have been deconstructed to reveal layers of meaning about the nature of love and human psychology.

Emperor ..... Johan Botha (Tenor)
Empress ..... Emily Magee (Soprano)
Nurse (Amme) ..... Michaela Schuster (Mezzo-soprano)
Barak ..... Johan Reuter (Baritone)
Barak's Wife ..... Elena Pankratova (Soprano)
One-Eyed Brother ..... Adrian Clarke (Baritone)
One-Armed Brother ..... Jeremy White (Bass)
Hunchback Brother ..... Hubert Francis (Tenor)
Spirit Messenger ..... Ashley Holland (Baritone)
Voice of a Falcon ..... Anush Hovhannisyan (Soprano)
Apparition of a Youth ..... David Butt Philip (Tenor)
Guardian of the Threshold ..... Dusica Bijelic (Soprano)
Voice from Above ..... Catherine Carby (Mezzo-soprano)
Royal Opera House Orchestra
Royal Opera House Chorus
Conductor, Semyon Bychkov

*1800 Act 1
*1905 First interval (including artist interviews)
*1930 Act 2
*2030 Interval 2 (including artist interviews and an extended interview with tonight's conductor, Semyon Bychkov)
*2055 Act 3.

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