One of Richard Strauss’s grandest and most gorgeous operas receives a fully staged performance as part of the 2027 Mandel Opera & Humanities Festival. A symbolic tale of love, redemption, and compassion, the half-human Empress sets out on a desperate quest to gain a shadow or face a terrible fate. Conducted by Music Director Franz Welser-Möst and featuring an international cast of singers, this is an operatic event not to miss.