Casting a shadow
A new production of Richard Strauss’s ‘Die Frau Ohne Schatten’ is set to open at the Mariinsky Theater. By Galina Stolyarova
Staff Writer
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Natasha Razina / The St. Petersburg Times
British director Jonathan Kent has a background in dramatic theater in the U.K.
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“Die Frau Ohne Schatten” (“The Woman Without a Shadow,”) believed to be Richard Strauss’s favorite and most musically challenging opera, is coming to the Russian stage for the first time. Internationally acclaimed British director Jonathan Kent is staging the work at the Mariinsky Theater, with premieres scheduled for Nov. 16 and 18. “Die Frau Ohne Schatten,” set to a sophisticated libretto by poet Hugo von Hofmannsthal, is rich in symbolism and bears countless philosophical reverences. The ideas of Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, Arthur Schopenhauer and Friedrich Nietzsche were instrumental in devising the plot. “You really see a lot of Nietzsche in the libretto; it bears references to Jung’s concept of the shadow — everything that is repressed and unconscious,” Kent said. “And, of course, Schopenhauer’s idea that the mainspring of all human action is the will to live and create life is central to the plot.” Although the opera is generally regarded by the musical world as the composer’s most fascinating work, “Die Frau Ohne Schatten” is noticeably less often staged than Strauss’s other operas, including “Salome” and “Elektra,” which are already part of the Mariinsky repertoire. Very few opera companies worldwide dare to touch this gem, as the work throws up titanic challenges to the director and set designer, who have to cope with all the elements of magic and symbolism. The opera is no less demanding vocally, featuring five main characters who have to master elaborate passages and have the stamina to compete with the heavy orchestration. Jonathan Kent gained international fame during his reign as one of the directors of London’s Almeida Theater from 1990 to 2002. “Die Frau Ohne Schatten” marks Kent’s second collaboration with the Mariinsky, following a highly successful rendition of Strauss’s “Elektra” in 2007. Upon his departure from the Almeida, which focuses on drama, Kent turned his hand to opera. His debut came in 2003 when he produced Leos Janacek’s “Katya Kabanova” for the Santa Fe Opera, receiving plaudits from critics.
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V. Baranovsky
Kent directs a performer during rehearsals for ‘Die Frau Ohne Schatten.’
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“The huge difference between staging an opera and producing a drama is that in the opera, the rhythm of the production is given; it is dictated by the music,” said Kent. “In a drama production you have to find the right rhythm during the rehearsals. Both opera and drama have narratives and tell stories. The narrative creates some sort of skeleton, and opera requires adding some flesh to that skeleton.” One of the director’s biggest successes in opera was a rendition of Puccini’s “Tosca,” which he created for Covent Garden in 2006 with glamorous Romanian soprano Angela Gheorghiu in the lead role. The stakes were high for Kent — the show replaced a renowned Franco Zeffirelli production originally designed for Maria Callas in 1964 that had been running for 42 years. The fairy-tale libretto of “Die Frau Ohne Schatten” revolves around an empress who must acquire a shadow — a symbol of motherhood — or else the emperor will be turned into stone. With the assistance of her nurse, the empress travels from the spirit world to the world of humans. She faces the difficult dilemma of striking a questionable deal with the dyer’s wife, whose shadow she would receive. Although the dyer is passionate about having children, his wife is afraid of the responsibility, and has secretly sworn never to have children. Both women find themselves on the verge of betrayal, yet ultimately manage to find a positive and honest solution to their situations. “This opera tells a story about the search for identity: The empress and the dyer’s wife are both desperately seeking that which, as it eventually turns out, they had all along,” Kent said. “Both women are striving to find their identities through relationships with their men, and through relation to the motherhood issue.” Visually, the production, which requires the characters to move freely and swiftly between earth and the spirit world, will juxtapose elements of traditional operatic designs and contemporary technology. The sets are the handiwork of British designer Paul Brown, who will make much use of video projections — or contemporary dreaming. The Mariinsky soloists began rehearsing the arias back in autumn last year, under the guidance of prominent European coach Richard Trimborn, who specializes in German opera and is a regular with the Mariinsky Theater, helping the singers with Wagner and Strauss. “Die Frau Ohne Schatten” premieres at the Mariinsky Theater on Nov. 16 and 18. www.mariinsky.ru
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