Schedule - Deutsche Oper Berlin
Die Frau ohne Schatten
Richard Strauss (1864 – 1949)
The Woman without a Shadow
Opera in three acts
Libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal
First performed on 10th October 1919 in Vienna
Premiere at the Deutsche Oper Berlin on 26 January 2025
ca. 4 Stunden 15 Minuten / Zwei Pausen
In deutscher Sprache mit deutschen und englischen Übertiteln
45 Minuten vor Vorstellungsbeginn: Einführung im Rang-Foyer rechts
empfohlen ab 16 Jahren- Olaf WinterJanic BebiManuel BraunJonas DahlHarald Heinz
- Premiere26202517:00JanSunD prices: € 144.00 / 112.00 / 82.00 / 50.00 / 30.00
- Repertoire30202518:00JanThuC prices: € 108.00 / 90.00 / 64.00 / 40.00 / 26.00
- 02202517:00FebSunC prices: € 108.00 / 90.00 / 64.00 / 40.00 / 26.00
- 05202518:00FebWedC prices: € 108.00 / 90.00 / 64.00 / 40.00 / 26.00
- 08202517:00FebSatC prices: € 108.00 / 90.00 / 64.00 / 40.00 / 26.00
- Last performance in this season11202518:00FebTueC prices: € 108.00 / 90.00 / 64.00 / 40.00 / 26.00
Die Vorstellungen am 26. und 30. Januar werden vom rbb aufgezeichnet. Die Premiere am 26. Januar wird live auf radio3 vom rbb übertragen. Weitere Übertragungen im Radio sind in Planung. Die Premiere wird präsentiert von Siegessäule und taz.
- Olaf WinterJanic BebiManuel BraunJonas DahlHarald Heinz
About the work
According to Hugo von Hofmannsthal in a 1911 letter to Richard Strauss, in which he set out his idea for another collaboration between the two men, their next opera would be to THE MAGIC FLUTE what THE KNIGHT OF THE ROSE had been to FIGARO. And the work that premiered a full eight years later did indeed have strong echoes of Mozart’s »grand opéra«: there is the clash of different social classes, the fairytale-like, highly symbolic storyline and above all the strong feeling that ground-breaking change is underway which is challenging accepted orthodoxy and forcing issues of human interaction and values to the top of the political agenda. And in both cases enlightenment is gained only through ordeal and adversity. Here the shadow has a pivotal function as a metaphor for female fertility: the barren Empress and her nurse bargain with the dyer’s wife for her shadow. Only when the Empress rebels against achieving marital happiness and maternal contentment at someone else’s expense does a path to social harmony open up.
About the production
Tobias Kratzer has chosen this monumental fantasy opera to close his cycle of Strauss works at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. Where ARABELLA explores how hard it can be to even start a relationship based on equal rights and INTERMEZZO depicts what can happen in a marriage that has gone stale, in THE WOMAN WITHOUT A SHADOW Kratzer focuses on the challenge of rekindling a bond that has weakened through years of poor nurturing – an approach that extends far beyond the domestic sphere due to the ethical issues surrounding surrogate motherhood.