Marlies'Artbeat: "Elektra" by Richard Strauss -- a thrilling Crescendo in HD

By Marlies Wolf

Remember the fascinating, often grisly, Greek mythology stories you probably were force-fed in high school or college? If you were lucky, an enthusiastic teacher inspired you to appreciate the power of Electra by Sophocles, (c.496-406 BC.) One of the few great playwright’s extant plays, it is based on the far earlier work by Homer, who’s dates are guessed to be anywhere from the 12th to 8th Centuries BC. Sophocles fleshed out the motivations of the tragedy eloquently. Hugo von Hofmannsthal, (1874-1929,) the librettist of the Strauss one-act opera, adds the Freudian style injections so prevalent in his time.

Elektra was the first collaboration between the highly intellectual playwright and the talented composer. The opera Strauss had launched just prior, was his Salome, which shocked the world, but put him most solidly on its map. Keeping abreast with the rapid changes of musical composition, Elektra startles us with atonality in the relentless sweep of the work but also lulls us with segments of undiluted lyricism.

Strauss had wanted to follow Salome with a comedy, which, luckily we did get some time later from the best ever collaboration of von Hofmannsthal and the composer: Der Rosenkavalier.

Elektra’s, complex, horrifying plot most certainly has not a single bit of comic relief. It shows us Elektra, obsessed with revenge for the murder of her father, King Agamemnon, after his return from the Trojan War. He was killed by her mother, Klytåmnestra and her lover, usurper king Aegisth, who reduced Elektra and her sister Chrysothemis to the status of slaves in the court of Mycenae. The younger sister, not as vengeful, dreams of a normal life as wife and mother.

Klytåmnestra haunted by well-deserved harrowing dreams, comes to Elektra for advice as to what sacrifices might free her of them. Elektra, sadistically predicts only her mother’s violent end as the appropriate sacrifice.

All along Elektra has been waiting for the return of Orest, (the brother who had fled Mycenae as a boy,) to commit the deed of killing Klytåmnestra and Aeghist. Two strangers appear, spreading the word that Orest is dead. Elektra despairs, tries to convince her unwilling sister that they now must commit the deadly deed themselves.

It turns out that Orest himself has falsely spread the word of his death as a ploy to enter Mycenae, knowing what he must do. Two terrifying screams are heard from inside the castle, heralding that Orest has slain his mother. They elicit hysterical shouts of joy from Elektra. When Aegisth appears, she convinces him that Orest is dead indeed, (and in this version,) we witness his assassination right on stage.

Elektra and Chrysothemis embrace in sisterly reconciliation, (to absolutely gorgeous music) but whereas the latter runs off, Elektra dances a rapturous “Dance of Death” before descending into what looked like a catatonic state.

The music, which requires a tremendously sized orchestra, is ingenious in keeping its high-pitched excitement going throughout the opera’s entirety. And it does it with elegance and great beauty. But the intensity is loud, which bothered some earlier opera buffs, who felt it impaired the singers’ performances. A story has it, (probably apocryphal) that Strauss, at a rehearsal yelled: “Louder, louder, I can still hear the singers!”

Yes, indeed, this performance was loud – and in our movie theatre almost disturbingly so -- but it was fantastic! Nina Stemme, the Swedish soprano, who just in January was our Turandot in HD, absolutely outdid herself. The power of her voice, never missing a top note in the tessitura of this exceptionally challenging role, was ably matched by her acting. Extreme close-ups of her expressive face were a special gift to HD audience members. (Being at the Met itself, I’d say they missed a lot of her bloodthirsty yet vulnerable subtlety.)

The great German mezzo-soprano, Waltraud Meier, was our vocally and physically imposing Klytåmnestra. (I have always had a little soft spot for that character. Didn’t she have a bit of a case to hate Agamemnon, who sacrificed their daughter Iphigenia to get the fleet to the Trojan War? But then you just don’t argue with what the Greek Gods ordain.)

Adrienne Pieczonka, the Canadian soprano was well cast as Chrysothemis. Her sumptuous voice and acting ability made the character most appealing. Germany’s Burkhard Ulrich completed the short tenor part of the repugnant Aegisth with definite distinction. But it was Eric Owens, as Orest, with his stately take on the role, and his awesome bass-baritone that really stood out in this altogether super cast. His powerful voice has a unique beauty whether used for singing or in speech. It is simply marvelous!

And that word is also applicable to the performance the conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen elicited from the Met orchestra. So well honed all around, it complied with his choice of massive propulsion as well as the lyrical sections of the score he seemed to accentuate.

The cleverly stark set, by Richard Peduzzi, propelled us immediately into the befitting tragic and potentially grisly mood.

This production, which has been seen in many major European opera houses, was the creation of the recently deceased director Patrice Chéreau. What a loss to the opera world! His Bayreuth Die Walküre set the benchmark for that opera from 1980 on. This truly epic production is a befitting finale to his gigantic operatic talent.

Catch the encore of this fine Elektra on Wednesday, May 4th 2016 at 6:30 PM or Thursday, May 5th for the Matinee at 1:00 PM.