Already brimming with symbols and transformations, the epic fairytale recounted by Richard Strauss and his librettist Hofmannsthal in Die Frau ohne Schatten acquires a further allegorical dimension in Christoph Loy’s inventive production for the Salzburg Festival.

The central character, the Empress – half-spirit, half-human, and unable to bear children until she finds a shadow – here becomes a young soprano who makes a voyage of personal and professional discovery as she records the opera.

A superb cast fulfils the complex vocal and dramatic demands of the piece while Christian Thielemann and the Vienna Philharmonic rise gloriously to the challenges of Strauss’s most ambitious and splendid operatic score.

Extra features include 'Christian Thielemann rehearses 'Die Frau Ohne Schatten'', and cast gallery.

Cast:
- The Emperor: Stephen Gould
- The Empress: Anne Schwanewilms
- The Nurse: Michaela Schuster
- Barak, the Dyer: Wolfgang Koch
- Barak’s Wife: Evelyn Herlitzius

Stage Director: Christof Loy

Recorded live at the Salzburg Festival, July 2011

"The set is stunning, the acting mostly brilliant and the sheer audacity of it all exhilarating." - The Telegraph

"A high-caliber vocal cast that provides the greatest Strauss bliss." - Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

"…the music was fabulous… Thielemann's great skill lies in respecting every note while never losing sight of the overall picture" - Intermezzo

Running time: 220 minutes
Subtitles: EN/FR/DE/ES
Sound format: 2.0LPCM + 5.1(5.0) DTS