Hildegard Behrens as Elektra

ELEKTRA
- an opera in one act
by RICHARD STRAUSS

(libretto by Hugo von Hoffmansthal based on his own adaptation of the play by Sophocles)

This is avant-garde Strauss. The most tightly structured of his operas, it is dissonant and complex, befitting the story's gruesome internecine plot, though it is not without moments of lyricism.

It premiered in Dresden on January 25, 1909 to mixed, often negative, reviews. Accused of composing music that was needlessly ugly, Strauss replied: "When a mother is slain on the stage, do they expect me to write a violin concerto?"

Behrens' "Roadmap to Elektra"
Elektra in Verona

Scenes from ELEKTRA

Click HERE to run slide show again.

(Photo credits: ©Winnie Klotz, ©ohan Elbers
Courtesy: Metropolitan Opera; ©Misako Uryu)

Click PLAY button to hear clip again.
BUY THE CDs:

Elektra - Boston Symphony
Elektra - Montpellier

HILDEGARD BEHRENS first sang Elektra at the Paris Opera in 1987. Herbert von Karajan had wanted her to sing the role soon after her phenomenal Salome, but she chose to wait, not because she was not vocally ready but because she feared doing so would pigeon-hole her in the heavy-role category at a time when she still wanted to sing a variety of roles.

After Paris, she "owned" the role of the demented goddess obsessed with avenging her father's murder, which to this day she continues to sing in staged and concert versions to great acclaim. She sang the role in Fall 1999 at the Dresden Semperoper in a performance that was hailed as spectacular, and again in April 2000, as well as in Verona, Italy in 2003.

The Many Faces of Behrens' Elektra An Interview

HILDEGARD BEHRENS: she makes music worth seeing!

PROFILE     PORTRAITS     PERFORMANCES     DISCOGRAPHY     AWARDS     QUOTES
BRÜNNHILDE     ELEKTRA      SALOME      FIDELIO     ISOLDE     MARIE     SENTA
THE KOSTELNICKA      THE WOMAN 'R'       KUNDRY     DIE LUSTIGE WITWE

about FANFAIRE       AUDIOFILES     NEW RELEASES    FOOD & MUSIC       VIDEO

SUPPORT FANFAIRE!
Buy your HOLIDAY GIFTS by CLICKING on FanFaire's AMAZON links.