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Work of the Week – Richard Strauss: Die schweigsame Frau
- 24 Jan 2022
A noise-sensitive main character, a spirited opera troupe and a pile of money – there can't be more potential for conflict than that! Richard Strauss probably thought so too, using precisely these three motifs for his only comic opera. Die schweigsame Frau, an opera in three acts, will be revived by the Bavarian State Opera this season. The revival will take place on 29 January 2022 at the Munich National Theatre. Stefan Soltesz will take over the musical direction, Barrie Kosky staging the production.
Die schweigsame Frau by Richard Strauss – A comic opera between two worlds
The libretto of the opera is loosely based on Epicoene or the Silent Woman by Ben Jonson and was written by Stefan Zweig. It is about Sir Morosus, who lives a very secluded life due to a hearing impairment. Only his annoying housekeeper and his barber keep him company – until his nephew Henry, who was thought to have disappeared, appears with his opera company and stirs up Morosus' life. As Henry is disinherited by his rich uncle because of his choice of profession, he plans to mislead him with the help of his troupe and the barber in order to get his inheritance anyway. Henry's wife Aminta is to pretend to be a taciturn woman who wants to marry Morosus. After the wedding, she is to show her true self, so that Morosus will initiate the divorce and she will get his money.
"The play is actually a great struggle or tension between Morosus' world, this very lonely, German "Strauss world", and this Italian, passionate opera world. And this tension between Morosus, musically and dramaturgically, and the opera troupe, this crazy and in our case surreal opera troupe, is very important. [...] When [the troupe] comes on stage, you have the green room of almost 40 different operas united on one stage. And that, I think, is a nightmare for Morosis." Barrie Kosky
Further performances of Die schweigsame Frau at the Bavarian State Opera will take place on 1 and 4 February as well as 22 July 2022.
photo: Bayerische Staatsoper
