Reviews for Christian Räth’s Die schweigsame Frau

Christian Räth’s new production of Richard Strauss’s rarely performed comic opera Die schweigsame Frau (The Silent Woman) at Bard’s SummerScape has received excellent reviews.

The New York Times chose the opera as its Critics’ Pick, writing, ‘The witty staging, engaging cast and efficiently evocative designs made a good opera feel like a great one... For Bard’s delightful production, the director and set designer Christian Räth stages ‘Frau’ as an opera about putting on an opera. Stagehands execute scene changes in full view of the audience, and Morosus’s single-word mantra, ‘Ruhe’ (quiet), glows like an exit sign above the doors of his orderly home.’

BachTrack wrote: ‘Bard has engaged director Christian Räth to unravel the tangles and he does so joyfully and tellingly and one remains engaged.’

Musical America described it as ‘a brave production that makes an almost-best-possible case for this expansive collaboration between Richard Strauss and Austraian novelist and playwright, Stefan Zweig... Director and set designer Christian Räth infuses the production with a welcome undercurrent of danger.’

The Financial Times commented: ‘Bard’s effort, a vibrant one, reveals a flawed yet fascinating work... Building on Henry’s membership in an opera troupe (which horrifies his uncle), director Christian Räth gives the staging a theatrical aspect.’

The final performance of Die schweigsame Frau is on 31 July.