Out of a generally strong season in the Met HD series (a season where only 'Otello' and especially 'Manon Lescaut' disappointed), 'Elektra' is up there with the best along with 'Il Trovatore', 'Madama Butterfly' and 'Lulu'.
It is an incredibly powerful production of one of Richard Strauss' best operas. Let down only by Burkhard Ulrich, who shouts his way through the thankless (Strauss never was kind to his tenors, writing difficult music but with roles with very little to them) role of Aegisth and a forgettable presence onstage, and Elektra's vengeance/death dance which wasn't much of one at all (what there is does not gel with the increasing soaring but demented intensity of the music).
Not everybody is going to like the set, but the grim oppressiveness fit the story and the late Patrice Chereau's concept more than ideally, though because the Met's stage is so big and so are the sets it's not as claustrophobic as other productions available on DVD of the opera. The stage direction is ceaselessly compelling, especially in the nightmare and recognition scenes, both of which sear in intensity. Elektra's madness, thirst for vengeance and appearance were quite frightening. The lighting is atmospheric and the costumes are appropriate, again within the story of the opera and the concept of the production.
The production looks great in HD, with the video directing expansive but also intimate and the picture crystal clear. The sound is very well-balanced and resonant, which allows one to properly enjoy the booming thrill and nuance of the music. Renee Fleming's hosting is very brief this time round but well delivered.
Musically, it is an outstanding performance. The orchestra, bigger than usual due to the orchestration being large, play with such lushness and ferocious power and they are wonderfully rich in texture too. Every intricacy and nuance of the music is brought out by Esa-Pekka Salonen's incisive but also accommodating conducting, the tension is all there but so is the space. The offstage chorus is very beautifully sung, and the serving women, among them a rock-solid house favourite Roberta Alexander, carry the opening scene with constant engagement.
Despite small reservations about whether Elektra, one of the most taxing in all opera, would be too heavy for her, Nina Stemme sings fearlessly with a dark plushness that has such hefty volume but she isn't afraid to give her singing light and shade. She acts with complete abandonment too, evoking chills in long stretches where she doesn't sing and completely quashing any claims that she can't act. Adrianne Pieczonka gives her incredibly strong, more grounded, more moral-compass support as sister Chrysothemis, there may be more vocally mellifluous Crysothemis' about but Pieczonka still sings beautifully (especially in her very telling "Ich kann nicht sitzen") and is a very dramatically persuasive actress.
Waltraud Meier, in my opinion one of the greatest singing actresses of the opera stage in the past 30 years, is a superb Klytamnestra. Even if the voice doesn't quite have the beauty that it did earlier in her career she still sounds incredibly impressive for 60. There is a blooming richness still and her musicianship and very individual word colouring as ever is impeccable. It was also refreshing to see a more tortured, wounded-by-her-past Klytamnestra than the very heavily made up and costumed villain as typically portrayed, and considering the nightmare scene it worked brilliantly and it gave the role more colour, though one still remembers that she is a villain from Meier's spine-tingling entrance alone.
Eric Owens is an authoritative and quietly menacing Orest, with an imposing and still very warm bass-baritone voice.
Overall, a very powerful production and one of the best productions of the 10th season of the Met in HD series. 8.5/10 Bethany Cox
It is an incredibly powerful production of one of Richard Strauss' best operas. Let down only by Burkhard Ulrich, who shouts his way through the thankless (Strauss never was kind to his tenors, writing difficult music but with roles with very little to them) role of Aegisth and a forgettable presence onstage, and Elektra's vengeance/death dance which wasn't much of one at all (what there is does not gel with the increasing soaring but demented intensity of the music).
Not everybody is going to like the set, but the grim oppressiveness fit the story and the late Patrice Chereau's concept more than ideally, though because the Met's stage is so big and so are the sets it's not as claustrophobic as other productions available on DVD of the opera. The stage direction is ceaselessly compelling, especially in the nightmare and recognition scenes, both of which sear in intensity. Elektra's madness, thirst for vengeance and appearance were quite frightening. The lighting is atmospheric and the costumes are appropriate, again within the story of the opera and the concept of the production.
The production looks great in HD, with the video directing expansive but also intimate and the picture crystal clear. The sound is very well-balanced and resonant, which allows one to properly enjoy the booming thrill and nuance of the music. Renee Fleming's hosting is very brief this time round but well delivered.
Musically, it is an outstanding performance. The orchestra, bigger than usual due to the orchestration being large, play with such lushness and ferocious power and they are wonderfully rich in texture too. Every intricacy and nuance of the music is brought out by Esa-Pekka Salonen's incisive but also accommodating conducting, the tension is all there but so is the space. The offstage chorus is very beautifully sung, and the serving women, among them a rock-solid house favourite Roberta Alexander, carry the opening scene with constant engagement.
Despite small reservations about whether Elektra, one of the most taxing in all opera, would be too heavy for her, Nina Stemme sings fearlessly with a dark plushness that has such hefty volume but she isn't afraid to give her singing light and shade. She acts with complete abandonment too, evoking chills in long stretches where she doesn't sing and completely quashing any claims that she can't act. Adrianne Pieczonka gives her incredibly strong, more grounded, more moral-compass support as sister Chrysothemis, there may be more vocally mellifluous Crysothemis' about but Pieczonka still sings beautifully (especially in her very telling "Ich kann nicht sitzen") and is a very dramatically persuasive actress.
Waltraud Meier, in my opinion one of the greatest singing actresses of the opera stage in the past 30 years, is a superb Klytamnestra. Even if the voice doesn't quite have the beauty that it did earlier in her career she still sounds incredibly impressive for 60. There is a blooming richness still and her musicianship and very individual word colouring as ever is impeccable. It was also refreshing to see a more tortured, wounded-by-her-past Klytamnestra than the very heavily made up and costumed villain as typically portrayed, and considering the nightmare scene it worked brilliantly and it gave the role more colour, though one still remembers that she is a villain from Meier's spine-tingling entrance alone.
Eric Owens is an authoritative and quietly menacing Orest, with an imposing and still very warm bass-baritone voice.
Overall, a very powerful production and one of the best productions of the 10th season of the Met in HD series. 8.5/10 Bethany Cox
