To dye for

The only thing better than knowing that a singer has had the greatest Sternstunde of her career is having that performance documented. Montserrat Caballe‘s Norma at Orange, for example, which is one of truly must-have DVDs for any true opera fanatic. Now, Dame Gwyneth Jones has had many great nights in her amazing career, but it’s hard to imagine she (or anyone else!) could ever top her performance as the Dyer’s Wife in this 1980 Frau ohne Schatten from the Paris Opera. Voice, commitment, acting, and La Jones’s remarkable physical beauty are at their peak: this is a definitive Faerberin. And it’s not as if Jones is carrying the whole show. The luxurious cast includes Hildegard Behrens (Kaiserin), Rene Kollo (Kaiser), Walter Berry (Barak), Mignon Dunn (Amme) and Franz Grundheber (Geisterbote), under the baton of Christoph von Dohnanyi. Unnatural Acts of Opera.