Die Frau ohne Schatten

Opera in 3 acts
Libretto: Hugo von Hofmannsthal
World premiere: 10 October 1919, Vienna
Premiere of this production 17 October 2023, Lyon
Producer: Opéra de Lyon
In the original German with Polish and English surtitles

Die Frau ohne Schatten (The Woman without a Shadow) is the fourth collaboration of composer Richard Strauss and lyricist Hugon von Hofmannsthal. Despite abounding in ambiguous symbolism, the opera focuses on the most fundamental human experiences: love, loneliness, feeling unfulfilled, longing.

The piece is a metaphysical fairytale about two married couples suspended between three worlds: the spirit realm ruled by Prince Keikobad, a sumptuous world inhabited by demigods represented by the Emperor and the Empress, and the mortal world of humans: a dyer by the name of Barak and his Wife. The imperial couple are not happy in their relationship. The Empress is the daughter of the mighty Keikobad and can assume different forms. She was captured by the Emperor in the form of a gazelle. She is now trapped in the human shape because she lost a talisman of transformation. Her husband treats her like a trophy and a sexual object. She lives and unfulfilled life, which is why she has lost her shadow. To regain it and save the Emperor’s life, she must experience human misery and compassion. Barak's marriage is also an unhappy one. The couple is mismatched and they live in dismal conditions. Approached with a generous offer that would considerably improve the couple’s lot, the Wife decides to sell her shadow to the Empress. Keikobad’s daughter initially agrees to the deal, before backing away from it, resolved not to condemn the woman to a lifetime of unhappiness. Her good intentions are rewarded with the shadow she longed so much for.

The libretto combines tropes taken from Oriental fairytales and symbolic parables, alluding to certain motifs from Mozart’s The Magic Flute. What underlies the seemingly complicated narrative is a universal tale of an unhappy relationship and endeavours to save it. The story is told with sensual music based on contrasting elements: engrossing harmonies and stark dissonances, momentous tutti sections and soft chamber passages, arias and large choruses.

Fascinated with modern opera for years, Mariusz Treliński sees the piece as a contemporary tale of a mentally exhausted woman. The director draws inspiration from the films of Lars von Trier and Ingmar Bergman. For him, The Woman without a Shadow is not a fantastical tale but a relevant take on the topic of womanhood and maternity. The production is an interplay between symbolism and realism; a psychological drama and engrossing visual and musical experience. Co-produced with the Lyon Opera, it received enthusiastic reviews from the French critics, who praised the extraordinary suggestiveness of the world conjured by Treliński to offer an insight into the female subconsciousness. 

Chorus and Orchestra of the Teatr Wielki - Polish National Opera
Artos Children’s Choir