Strauss - Die Frau ohne Schatten (Schwanewilms, Kerls, NY Met, Jurowski) (320kbps .mp3)

Vladimir Jurowski conducts Richard Strauss's epic fairy-tale opera at the Met in New York, starring Anne Schwanewilms, Christine Goerke, Ildikó Komlósi, Johan Reuter & Torsten Kerl

Die Frau ohne Schatten - The Woman without a Shadow - is an opera that grapples with the essence of being human. Like Mozart's The Magic Flute, it explores the nature of love and human psychology through a drama of two contrasting couples - and mesmerising music. This 2013 production from the New York Metropolitan Opera, never previously heard in the UK, established American soprano Christine Goerke as a leading dramatic soprano - alongside German soprano Anne Schwanewilms in the title role as the Empress who must decide whether to sacrifice someone else’s happiness to achieve her own.

Presented by Mary Jo Heath and Ira Siff.

Empress ..... Anne Schwanewilms (soprano)
Emperor ..... Torsten Kerl (tenor)
Empress's Nurse ..... Ildikó Komlósi (mezzo-soprano)
Barak, a Dyer ..... Johan Reuter (bass-baritone)
Barak's wife ..... Christine Goerke (soprano)
Barak's One-Eyed brother ..... Daniel Sutin (baritone)
Barak's Hunchback brother ..... Allan Glassman (tenor)
Barak's One-Armed brother ..... Nathan Stark (bass)
Falcon ..... Jennifer Check (soprano)
Voice of a Young Man ..... Anthony Kalil (tenor)
Voice from Above ..... Maria Zifchak (mezzo-soprano)
Messenger of Keikobad ..... Richard Paul Fink (baritone)
Guardian of the Threshold ..... Andrey Nemzer (countertenor)
Servants ..... Haeran Hong, Dísella Làrusdóttir (sopranos), Edyta Kulczak (mezzo-soprano)
Voices of the Unborn Children ..... Anne-Carolyn Bird, Ashley Emerson, Danielle Talamantes, Monica Yunus (sopranos), Megan Marino, Renée Tatum (mezzo-sopranos)
Watchmen ..... David Won (baritone), Jeongcheol Cha, Brandon Cedel (bass-baritones)
Metropolitan Opera Chorus and Orchestra
Conductor Vladimir Jurowski

Perfumed on November 26,  2013
Broadcast: 15 May 2021, BBC Radio3