BWW Reviews: This FRAU Has No Shadow, But Plenty of Thrills at The Met

There are more famous operas than Richard Strauss's DIE FRAU OHNE SCHATTEN (The Woman without a Shadow), but you won't find one that is more exciting when all the pieces--and there are lots of them--come together. The Met's production is one of those evenings in the opera house--not perfect but so thrilling that you forget that it isn't.

An unexpected triumph

First, there's the discovery of soprano Christine Goerke as the Dyer's Wife. (Only the Dyer himself, Barak, has a name in this opera.) No, this wasn't her debut at the house, but it might as well have been, because her enormous voice and full-bodied singing were so unexpected. Those of us who have heard her before (in my case, since IPHIGENIE EN TAURIDE at NY City Opera about 15 years ago) knew there would be some good singing, but not on the scale that was offered at the opera's second performance of the season, November 12.

It's a killer of a role. To give you an idea: Birgit Nilsson told me she almost cancelled her first production of FRAU because she was having difficulties fitting the music into her voice. It's that demanding. Yet Goerke tossed it off like she was singing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" and her acting stood up as well. Her wonderful work was rewarded by the Met: After the premiere, the company announced that she would be the Brunnhilde in the next run of Wagner's RING (though we'll have to wait for the 2018-19 season to hear it), as well as the title roles in TURANDOT and ELEKTRA, and Ortrud in Wagner's LOHENGRIN.

Cool and hot characters

There were two other outstanding performances in the cast. Soprano Anne Schwanewilms, with her lyric voice, was glorious as the Empress, both imperial and human in a role that calls for hitting all the bases; she was especially good in the monologue before she goes to meet her father. As Barak, Johan Reuter exuded a natural warmth, both vocally and physically, giving a touching performance as a simple man who doesn't quite understand the woman he is married to. (Who does?)

The other two principals were not as happily cast. Ildiko Komlosi, as the Nurse, may have been a little over the top dramatically but was mostly on target, and wasn't afraid of making some unpleasant sounds. (Unfortunately, there were too many of them.) As the Emperor, Torsten Kerl had all the notes for the demanding role, but delivered them in a narrow-sounding tenor that was not particularly easy on the ears. On the other hand, Richard Paul Fink, as the Messenger of Keikobad, made a significant contribution to the evening with his sturdy bass-baritone. And kudos to Scott Weber as the Falcon Mime, Jerry Grossman on solo cello and David Chan on solo violin.

A dynamic conductor

The dynamic conducting of Vladimir Jurowski and the Met Orchestra worked together with extraordinary results; the music's dark sound and forward thrust is critical to the success of any performance of this work and they were more than up to the task. I wish I liked this production better. Half of it works well--the hall of mirrors that represents the world of the Emperor and Empress seems spot-on--but the world of the Dyer and his wife looks like a Williamsburg loft before the renovations started. And why a refrigerator?

Never mind. This FRAU managed to be more than the sum of its parts. And, despite its name, it cast a long shadow, indeed.

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Photo: Christine Goerke as the Dyer's Wife

Photo credit: Ken Howard/Metropolitan Opera

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