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Disc 1:
Disc 2:
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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
If ever there was a dysfunctional family, it was the one in this opera, based on a Greek tragedy but deeply imbued with the ideas of Sigmund Freud. The mother Clytemnestra (mezzo-soprano Regina Resnik) and her lover Aegisthus (tenor Gerhard Stolze) have murdered her husband, Agamemnon, on his triumphant return from the Trojan War. They have an excuse: Agamemnon gave his daughter Iphigenia for a human sacrifice. Another daughter, Elektra (soprano Birgit Nilsson), burns for revenge but, as a woman in a patriarchal society, she must use her brother Orestes (baritone Tom Krause) to execute her plan. Nilsson's portrayal is a high point of her career and the whole brilliant production matches her performance. This is not easy listening but it puts us in touch with dark realities dangerous to ignore and the music (after you get used to it, which may take a while) has great power. --Joe McLellan
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Unbelievable Klytemnestra performance,
By A Customer
This review is from: R Strauss: Elektra (Audio CD)
The definitive recording of Elektra. After listening to Regina Resnikäs performance as Klytemnestra you will never be able to listen to any other recording. The horror, the colours in her voice, the screams, the primal energy which she summons up in this role are compelling. Marie Collier also gives a moving performance as Chrysotemis, particularly in her "ich kann nicht sitzen...". The death of Klytemnestra is especially frightening. A must.
11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
it's good..so buy it,
By A Customer
This review is from: R Strauss: Elektra (Audio CD)
I don't usually rate Solti's conducting that highly. I found his 'Ring' cycle consistently poor, overblown and fragmented (try Bohm) but in 'Elektra' he seems to have used that nervous energy to the benefit of the music. It's probably Strauss' greatest opera, a masterwork (not just of the 20th century but ANY century) and it receives here a truly great performance. Nilsson is much more 'in character' here than she was in Solti's Wagner recordings. The other singers are superb. I particularly liked Krause's 'Orest', a part which can often seem weak. And Resnik is chilling and unhinged as Klytemnestra. The VPO play tremendously and the Decca recording (1967) captures the full range of singers and instrumentalists to perfection. The depth of the sound picture and noticeable lack of background 'hiss' is remarkable (note that the current edition has been re-mastered). If you want to sample this music listen to Elektra's opening monologue on Disc One (track 2). From 7' 06'' to the end of the track is one massive passage of incandescent singing, conducting and playing. Prepare to be blown away! It's one of Strauss' finest moments and amply demonstrates the merits of this great recording.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Solti and Decca's Best?,
This review is from: R Strauss: Elektra (Audio CD)
With this recording - John Culshaw's penultimate for Decca - the 'sonicstage' concept reached its apogee: I can't think of another opera recording where the production is so 'interventionist' - not afraid to go right over the top where necessary (just sample the beginning of disc 2 to see what I mean) and with incredible use of echo and perspective. Even if you don't like the music, this would make an excellent stereo demonstration disc!
But the music is what it's all about: Elektra represents Strauss at his most 'out there' - he was never this musically radical again (Rosenkavalier, though just as good in its own way, represented a change of direction) and Solti delivers the maximum amount of drama in a score which, strangely, he often claimed to be equivocal about. His conducting, and the playing of the VPO, has an almost visceral impact here and Nilsson, Collier and (particularly) Rysanek, give performances that you will never be able to forget. I'd definitely say this is one of the finest opera recordings ever made.
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