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Valery Gergiev conducts Strauss’ 'Elektra', one of the most powerful operas in the repertoire, accompanied by a superlative cast. Premiered in 1910 at Covent Garden, under the baton of Sir Thomas Beecham, 'Elektra' showcases many, of what were at the time, modernist techniques such as dissonance, chromaticism and fluid tonality but also some of his finest writing. The one-act Greek tragedy was reconstructed by Hugo von Hofmannsthal, and his adapted text forms the libretto for the opera. The drama centres around Elektra and her determination to avenge her father’s death. The themes of death, violence, sexual repression and revenge are omnipresent. American soprano Jeanne-Michèle Charbonnet is recognised as a leading force in German and contemporary music repertoire and a great singing actress. Angela Denoke and Dame Felicity Palmer both possess outstanding pedigrees in Strauss' opera. They are joined by outstanding Lieder specialist Matthias Goerne, making one of his rare forays into operatic repertoire. “This exciting reading is worth a try, if not a classic” Sunday Times, 1st July 2012 “one feels a distinct frisson with the arrival of Klytaemnestra...Caricature is totally eschewed; however tortured Klytaemnestra may be, Palmer maintains an innate regality in her vocal presence...[Goerne's] text is penetratingly delivered...Storey offers a heroic voice as Aegisthus, for a change, with all the notes truly sounded...One can tell that the LSO rejoices in playing this music...Any Elektra enthusiast will want to hear Goerne and the magnificent Palmer.” International Record Review, July/August 2012 “if vocal discipline is not Charbonnet’s strong suit that may be a virtue in this role...It is difficult to find any faults in Felicity Palmer’s classic Klytämnestra...she is always scrupulously musical and no thoughts of caricature invade one’s attention...[Storey creates] an individual sound for the character of Ägisthus..[Goerne] falls not far short of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau in establishing a dark, mysterious presence at his entry” classicalsource.com, July 2012 “Gergiev grasps the Wagnerian intensity of the score, also capturing the Straussian extremist tendencies with thrilling impact. Thrusting playing by the LSO helps.” The Scotsman, 9th July 2012 ***** “Gothic glory lies in the London Symphony Orchestra’s playing: visceral in impact, full of details usually lost in an opera house pit...Charbonnet doesn’t have enough heft at the top for the increasingly unhinged Elektra: the compensation comes in her commitment and passion.” The Times, 20th July 2012 *** “[Gergiev] conveys passions and tensions with compelling, sometimes deafening power...[Charbonnet is] strongly involved without, thankfully, overplaying the weirdness...[Palmer's Klytaemnestra is] the real star of this show, slicing through Gergiev's sound-wall with incisive diction and keen characterisation: she's neurotic, malevolent but far from the conventional Germanic witch. Ian Storey makes Aegisth's few lines at once fatuous and menacing.” BBC Music Magazine, September 2012 *** “Gergiev has the LSO sailing through metre- and key-changes with almost effortless fluidity, and Strauss's dramaturgical acumen has never seemed clearer...Charbonnet generates plenty of manic excitement with her ultra-aggressive vibrato but...there are many signs of considerable theatrical intelligence; at times her conviction triumphs over her own voice...Goerne is the one vocal marvel here: his Orestes has nobility and morality” Gramophone Magazine, October 2012 | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Live Recording From The Grosses Festspielhaus, Salzburg Festival, 2010
Set by Raimund Bauer With Richard Strauss’ Elektra, the Salzburg Festival delivers a thoroughly impressive new production that the Vienna daily Kurier calls the “best new opera production of 2010”. Reaping acclaim are the top-quality vocalists as well as the mighty stage set and the sensitive direction of Nikolaus Lehnhoff. Portraying Elektra is Swedish soprano Iréne Theorin, who injects astonishing dramatic power into her role. “Impressive in every respect”, wrote the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung about her role debut here. Internationally acclaimed Wagner singer Waltraud Meier also gives her spectacular, commanding stage debut here as Klytämnestra. They are complemented by an outstanding Eva-Maria Westbroek as Chrysothemis, and a forceful René Pape as Orest. Nikolaus Lehnhoff’s many years of experience on the world’s greatest stages are clearly visible in his direction of the singers: moving about a sinister, forbidding set bathed in suggestively changing lighting, the vocalists are treated as stage actors, whose expressive gestures are captured with particular vividness and immediacy by the camera. Leading the Wiener Philharmoniker is Daniele Gatti. Alternating between late 19th-century lyricism and early 20th-century excess, he clearly emphasizes the dual conflicts at the heart of the work. “Nikolaus Lehnhoff’s new production of ‘Elektra’ ends with a stroke of genius that arrives with a shock.” Financial Times Sound Format: PCM Stereo, dts-HD Master Audio 5.1 Picture Format: 16:9 Resolution: 1080i FULL HD Subtitle Languages: DE, IT, GB, FR, ES, JP Running Time: 109 mins Blu-ray Disc: 25 GB (Single Layer) FSK: 6 “Here's a treat for Expressionism junkies...dominated by Theorin's extraordinary heroine, a Brunnhilde gone seriously to seed, a real tour de force of concentrated energy, vocal stamina and dramatic power, who occupies most of the very well-made film in close-up. Daniele Gatti gets marvellous sounds from the Vienna Philharmonic, all the score's fever and neurosis but also its tenderness... There's really not a weak link here” Opera Now, Summer 2011 ***** “Elektra's Freudian creepiness constantly attracts sensationalist productions, so it's a pleasure to report just how fine this 2010 Salzburg staging is. Daniele Gatti's conducting is powerful enough, but never loses sight of the score's eerie lyricism and sombre glow, which Nikolaus Lehnhoff's staging embodies to atmospherically...Among Elektras on DVD this, along with Karl Böhm's historical performance, must rank among the best; and on Blu-ray it is superb.” BBC Music Magazine, October 2011 *****  BBC Music Magazine
DVD & Blu-ray Choice - October 2011 |
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Eva Marton (Elektra), Marjana Lipovsek (Klytämnestra), Bernd Weikl (Oreste), Hermann Winkle (Aegisth), Kurt Moll (Orest's Tutor), Daphne Evangelatos, Shirley Close, Birgit Calm, Julie Faulkner, Caroline Maria Petrig (Maids) Chor und Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Wolfgang Sawallisch The mid-price collection presents some of the most important and admired recordings of the EMI Classics and Virgin Classics catalogue which make EMI - The Home of Opera. Bonus Disc contains synopsis and libretto with translation. “Marton's devastating portrayal of the crazed, obsessive Elektra was a riveting experience in the theatre and her complete involvement in the role comes across with comparable immediacy here - the blood runs cold on several occasions...Lipovsek's Klytämnestra is superb: a frighteningly credible depiction of delusion and hate...A formidable success from every point of view” International Record Review, January 2011 “The women are particularly good: Eva Marton's heavy duty soprano especially rich in lower colours in the title role; Cheryl Studer's Chrysothemis light and fluttery; and Marjana Lipovsek's Klytämnestra magnificently baleful.” BBC Music Magazine, February 2011 **** | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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'Sinopoli and the [engineers] have gone even further (than Barenboim/Teldec) in exposing the panoply of sound Strauss conjured from his vast orchestra in the most vivid sound yet…you will certainly find much here to thrill mind and heart.' Gramophone 1997 Elektra was the first of the collaborative fruits of Strauss and his long-term librettist Hugo von Hoffmanstahl. The work was premiered in Dresden in 1909, and the libretto caused much consternation among critics and public alike, being called immoral and perverse. However, the critics evidently didn’t know their Sophocles well, for Hoffmanstahl had adhered closely to the original – which he knew well in the original Greek. Although it was their first collaboration, Strauss had reservations about setting the libretto – not for any reasons to do with the criticism it drew after the premier, but due to the fact that Elektra has close parallels with Salome. Both works have scores requiring vast orchestral forces, and Elektra pushes tonality to breaking point. The tension created by Strauss is almost unbearable at times. That said, Elektra is a less daring score than Salome, and the composer had begun to row back from the edge of tonality and the world that Schoenberg would shortly inhabit. This journey back from the fringes of tonality would triumph with the gloriously sumptuous Der Rosenkavalier. “Marc, heading a generally fine cast, makes an unusually vulnerable anti-heroine” BBC Music Magazine, November 2010 *** | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | recorded in 1953
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“Avoiding the claws of a Solti, Sawallisch's interpretation of Strauss's shocking tragedy has clarity and pace. Marton is best seen as well as heard on the Abbado DVD, but she's a committed Elektra.” BBC Music Magazine, Proms 2008 **** “Marjana Lipovsek's Klytamnestra is among the finest on record, and Cheryl Studer as Chrysothemis, well contrasted in bright clarity, has wonderful moments, notably in her solo after the murders.” Penguin Guide, 2010 edition **/*** | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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Recorded: Sofiensaal, Vienna, September 1966 “A classic superbly remastered, with Nilsson's searing anti-heroine and Solti building almost unbearable tension. Includes Resnik's raddled Klytaemnestra, Krause's heroic Orest and Marie Collier, at the peak of her career.” BBC Music Magazine, May 2007 ***** “ Elektra is the most consistently inspired of all Strauss's operas and derives from Greek mythology, with the ghost of Agamemnon, so unerringly delineated in the opening bars, hovering over the whole work. The invention and the intensity of mood are sustained throughout the opera's one-act length, and the characterisation is both subtle and pointed. It's a work peculiarly well suited to Solti's gifts and it's his best recording in the studios. He successfully maintains the nervous tension throughout the unbroken drama and conveys all the power and tension in Strauss's enormously complex score which is, for once, given complete. The recording captures the excellent singers and the Vienna Philharmonic in a warm, spacious acoustic marred only by some questionable electronic effects. Notwithstanding the latter, this is undoubtedly one of the greatest performances on record and sounds even more terrifyingly realistic on this magnificent transfer.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010 “It is one great strength of the new Decca set, though only one, that the opera is performed quite complete ... Strauss's score is fantasically rich in musical detail of all kinds and Solti lavishes care and insight on every conceivable aspect of it ... the onus of the performance falls firmly on Birgit Nilsson and she carries it as if it were all in a day's work ... this is an amazing impersonation.” Gramophone Magazine “Nilsson is almost incomparable in the name-part, with the hard side of Elektra's character brutally dominant...she is searingly accurate in approaching the most formidable exposed top notes....Solti's direction [is] sharply focused and brilliant in the savage music which predominates” Penguin Guide, 2010 edition **** | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Stage Director: Martin Kušej
Opernhaus Zürich, 2005 “It's a change to see a production of Strauss's and Hofmannsthal's psychotic masterwork that's not weighted with greater German gloom, louring Second World War-derived imagery and cakes of lurid make-up. Martin Kušej directs people well, and since Elektra is largely an opera of dialogues, his work (all closely derived from the text) demands attention.
Eva Johansson's Elektra is a hooded tomboy with definite Asbo leanings; she has to be on full throttle for this role but both Dohnányi's orchestra and TDK's engineers are kind to her.
Melanie Diener, a consummate singing actress, locates the hard, hard role of Chrysothemis somewhere between Victoria Beckham and Brechtian alienation: every entry, every new event is as surprising to her as a goldfish going round its bowl.
Marjana Lipovšek presents their mother as a complex of confused identities, eschewing both in voice and acting any melodramatic harridan tendencies. As their brother, Alfred Muff survives a dreadful first 'disguise' wig to present a revenger of quiet, un-neurotic determination.
Equally original is Rudolf Schasching's lecherous groper of an Aegisthus, convincingly deceived when Elektra plays up to his libido.
The action takes places in a dangerously uneven, hillock-strewn courtyard, reached by many doors. There is much cavorting by the smaller roles: the maids (and one token transvestite) dress up as…maids (French) for Aegisthus' pleasure, while action or tension in the palace (Strauss's 'interludes') is illustrated by door-to-door crosses by a large troupe of actors in various states of ecstasy, undress, axecarrying, etc. They've not been terribly well directed and the effect only really works when the (false) news of Orestes' death sets off Klytemnestra's laugh. At the end, when revenge is done, the girl extras perform a dance in Las Vegas-style frillies – weird, but suitably unnerving.
Dohnányi's old master's approach to the score goes for a long pay-off rather than whipping up the tension from the word go, employing a wide range of tempi and dynamics and stressing the modernity of the score. Both the Vienna staging of Harry Kupfer (with Claudio Abbado) and the studio film of Götz Friedrich (with Karl Böhm and a veteran stellar cast) remain indispensable.
But, for an alternative vision allied to a close, human reading of the text, the new performance, while not quite the sum of its parts, makes for intelligent viewing.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010 | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Directed by Brian Large,
Subtitles: German/English/French/Spanish/Chinese “With Nilsson’s intense, overwhelming singing. . . it was a triumph for her…Leonie Rysanek is one of the few sopranos who can almost match Miss Nilsson note for note. . . Levine’s work was superb” –The New York Times | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | (includes Documentary on Disc 2)
Subtitles: German (original language), English, French, Spanish, Chinese Recorded in 1981 Staged and Directed by Götz Friedrich | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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BBC Music Magazine Awards 2012
