Strauss’s Die Frau ohne Schatten Returns to the Met with Elza van den Heever, Lise Lindstrom, and Nina Stemme in Their Company Role Debuts

Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts

New York, NY (November 19, 2024)—Soprano Elza van den Heever makes her Met role debut as the Empress in Strauss’s rarely performed Die Frau ohne Schatten, following her performances last season as Elisabeth in Wagner’s Tannhäuser. Later this season, van den Heever will star in the title role in a new production of Strauss’s Salome directed by Claus Guth. Soprano Lise Lindstrom makes her Met role debut as the Dyer’s Wife, and soprano Nina Stemme makes her role debut as the Nurse, following her performances in the title role of Strauss’s Elektra in the 2022–23 season. Yannick Nézet-Séguin, the Met’s Jeanette Lerman-Neubauer Music Director, conducts Strauss’s grand mythological epic for six performances, starting November 29.

Tenor Russell Thomas makes his role debut as the Emperor, following his performances in the title role of Verdi’s Don Carlo during the 2022–23 season. Baritone Michael Volle makes his Met role debut as Barak, returning after singing the title role of Verdi’s Falstaff in the 2022–23 season. Bass-baritone Ryan Speedo Green makes his role debut as the Spirit Messenger. He also sings Ferrando in Verdi’s Il Trovatore and Queequeg in the Met premiere of Jake Heggie’s Moby-Dick this season.

Die Frau ohne Schatten was first performed at the Met on October 2, 1966, to critical acclaim. Due to the enormous forces, demanding vocal writing, and technically challenging scenic changes, this opera is rarely staged and has only been programmed in nine Met seasons, having last been performed in 2013. This production by Herbert Wernicke premiered on December 13, 2001.

Die Frau ohne Schatten Broadcasts on Radio and Online
The November 29 and December 7 performances of Die Frau ohne Schatten will be broadcast live on Metropolitan Opera Radio on the SiriusXM app. Audio from the November 29 performance will also be streamed live on the Met’s website, Audio from the December 7 performance will also be broadcast over The Robert K. Johnson Foundation–Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network.

For More Information
For further details on Die Frau ohne Schatten including casting by date, please click here.