Richard Strauss: Die Frau Ohne Schatten

"Richard Strauss's Die Frau Ohne Schatten (""The Woman Without A Shadow"") has fared very well over the years where recording technology is concerned -- the opera, a strangely compelling fairy-tale like work steeped in mysticism dating from the first two decades of the twentieth century, wasn't given a full recording until the mid-1950's; that was just in time for it to become one of the earliest operatic works captured in stereo (though it didn't show up that way in our homes until the 1960's), in a recording that's still selling at this writing in 2002. This same performance, recorded live at the 1992 Salzburg Festival (with Sir Georg Solti conducting), was released on laserdisc during 1993 and well-received even in that awkward format -- one of the ironies surrounding the advance in technology is that a performance that cost $70 in a state-of-the-art format in 1993 sells for half that amount in a significantly superior format less than 10 years later. Die Frau Ohne Schatten isn't the first Strauss opera to turn up on DVD, but it sure takes advantage of the format about as well as any opera to date. The production featured an all-star cast and dazzling sets. The playback in DTS Digital 5.1 Surround sound is a rival to the 24-bit playback on DVD-Audio discs, and places you right in the middle of the piece, immersed in the sound of the orchestra and the surrounded by the all-star cast. Even the standard digital stereo track, however, gives playback to match the best CD. The image is so sharp and clear, and so rich in detail, that even the most darkly lit scene reveal usable picture information, and on a big-screen monitor the total effect of the sound-and-picture combination is downright enveloping. The work is divided onto two discs, with a large chapter array. The program begins automatically on start-up, set automatically to the digital stereo audio -- DTS users and those desiring subtitles (in English, French, Spanish, Italian, Chinese) have to call up the menu manually. There is no full libretto but there is a very handy, well-written, and informative booklet."