Strauss - Die Frau ohne Schatten - Seiffert, DeVol, Lipovsek - Sawallisch 1992DVD5&9 - NTSC - 4:3 - All Regions - PCM, Dolby Digital & DTS 5.1 - 183min.
Subtitles: English, German, French, Spanish, Italian
TDK 2007
Der Kaiser - Peter Seiffert, Die Kaiserin - Luana DeVol, Die Amme - Marjana Lipovšek, Barak, der Färber - Alan Titus, Sein Weib - Janis Martin, and other singers
Chor und Orchester der Bayerischen Staatsoper
Wolfgang Sawallisch, conductor
Ennosuke Ichikawa, stage director
Recorded at the Aichi Prefectural Art Theater, Nagoya, Japan, 8 and 11 November 1992
Happily it is musically almost as good. Wolfgang Sawallisch clearly loves this score and must particularly admire its transparency: the textures are clear and Strauss' remarkably colorful orchestration rarely has been so well presented. By contrast, Georg Solti's reading (Decca DVD) from Salzburg the same year goes for one huge musical effect after another; it isn't incorrect, but I prefer Sawallisch's approach. Solti presents the score complete while Sawallisch takes about 20 minutes of cuts, which is a pity. The Nagoya performance is riveting enough to handle the whole score, and the extended finale to the third act (10 minutes is cut) is sorely missed. Sawallisch also goes for marginally quicker tempos throughout. The Bavarian forces play exquisitely, although the Vienna Philharmonic is equally, if not more spectacular.
The singing here is mighty impressive. While again, Solti's cast went for power, Sawallisch's appears to approach the music as lyrically as possible. Despite the huge orchestral forces and ferocious effects, the story is a gentle, intimate one, and when called for, Sawallisch's cast sings accordingly. --Robert Levine
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