Die schweigsame Frau

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Die schweigsame Frau (The Silent Woman) is an opera in three acts by Richard Strauss with libretto by Stefan Zweig after Ben Jonson's Epicoene, or the Silent Woman.

[edit] Performance history

It was first performed at the Dresden Semperoper on 24 June 1935, conducted by Karl Böhm.

A work of great charm when well cast and performed, it has nevertheless proved one of Strauss's less successful operas. Strauss's association with a Jewish librettist in 1935 Germany provoked a hostile response from Hitler and Goebbels, and even after the war, it has enjoyed relatively few revivals.

It was performed at the Santa Fe Opera in 1987 and 1991, also at Garsington Opera in 2003.

[edit] Roles

		Premiere, June 24, 1935 (Karl Böhm)
Sir Morosus, a retired admiral	bass	Friedrich Plaschke
Widow Zimmerlein, his housekeeper	contralto
Schneidebart, a barber	high baritone	Mathieu Ahlersmeyer
Henry Morosus, nephew of the admiral	high tenor	Martin Kremer
Aminta, his wife	coloratura soprano	Maria Cebotari
Isotta, opera singer	coloratura soprano	Erna Sack
Carlotta, opera singer	mezzo-soprano
Morbio, opera singer	baritone
Vanuzzi, opera singer	deep bass
Farfallo, opera singer	deep bass
The parrot	spoken
Other actors, neighbors

[edit] Recordings

There is a classic recording with Karl Böhm, the original conductor, and the Vienna Philharmonic. The cast is Fritz Wunderlich (Henry Morosus), Hans Hotter (Sir Morosus), Georgine von Milinkovic (the housekeeper), Hermann Prey (Barber), Hilde Gueden (Aminta), Pierette Alaire (Isotta), Hetty Plümacher (Carlotta), Josef Knapp (Morbio), Karl Dönch (Vanuzzi), and Alois Pernerstorfer (Farfallo) (compact disc DG 445 335-2)

And there is another recording with Marek Janowski conducting the Staatskapelle Dresden with the Dresden State Opera Chorus and a cast including Theo Adam, Annelies Burmeister, Wolfgang Schöne, Eberhard Büchner, Jeanette Scovotti, Carola Nossek, Trudeliese Schmidt, Klaus Hirte, Werner Haseleu, Helmut Berger-Tuna and Johannes Kemter (compact disc CMS5660332).