For opera lovers today, “Elektra” is a period piece – a Freudian obsession filtered through searing early-20th century music. For opera fans in 1909, it was a shocker.
Based on a Greek tragedy, Richard Strauss’ short opera was his favorite. It followed the success of another disturbing work. “Salome” made Strauss very rich and very famous. But he claimed “Elektra” was the best opera he ever composed – a tragedy-in-one-act. It’s a bitter but tantalizing Viennese layer cake, one you don’t want to miss if you care about the history of opera.
“Elektra” runs about two hours without interruption. Sung in German, the MET Live in HD transmission Saturday morning will have English subtitles.
Based on Sophocles’ 400 BCE tragedy of the same title, Strauss’ “Elektra” is a tale of familial murder, strife and revenge.
Although through-composed, the opera has a simple, seven-part structure that basically follows ancient dramatic conventions. It opens with a Greek chorus, servants gossiping in a palace courtyard. This sets up the central conflict between a grieving daughter and a mother guilty of murdering the father. When a mysterious stranger arrives, a classic recognition scene ensues followed by bloody, offstage action and a dark resolution.
In 1904, Strauss saw a German version of Sophocles’ great tragedy. On the spot, he contacted the playwright to collaborate on an opera. Hugo von Hoffmansthal, a young Viennese poet and scholar, agreed. The work went forward, and a Dresden premiere took place in January 1909. The creative association between composer and librettist lasted 23 years and produced five more operas.
The back story is important. It begins with bloody rivalry between brothers in the House of Atreus. A generational pattern of murder and revenge continues. And when King Agamemnon sacrifices his daughter to ensure victory in the Trojan War, his wife and queen, Klytemnestra, vows to kill him on his return. With her lover Aegisthus, she does so, and the three remaining royal children react differently. That’s where the Strauss opera begins.
Elektra (soprano Nina Stemme) enters a palace courtyard and expresses her grief in a long, impassioned aria. Her sister, Chrysothemis (soprano Adrianne Pieczonka) consoles her, begging Elektra to abandon her crazy obsession about their father’s death. Klytemnestra (mezzo Waltraud Meier) enters and tells of her own nightmares, fueling the central mother-daughter conflict. Another Greek trope turns when a stranger enters with seemingly bad news. This sets up another convention, a recognition scene between Orest (bass-baritone Erik Owens) and Elektra. The plot to kill mother and lover advances. It takes place offstage in true Greek fashion and is followed by Elektra’s macabre dance of death. Whew.
The Greeks believed the gods spoke to humans through dreams. Freudian psychoanalysis introduced new ideas about where nightmare fantasies came from – within. In the early 20th century, Strauss and von Hoffmannsthal ditched the gods entirely. Murderous dreams and deeds became our fault entirely. In “Elektra,” composer and poet merged Sophoclean tragedy with Freudian theories to create an entirely new musical interpretation.
In turn, the Met has crafted a new production of “Elektra” that adds another layer to this ancient drama. The late Patrice Chéreau, a French film, opera and theater director who died suddenly in 2013, created a severe, modernist look for his 21st-century interpretation. He saw his new production in Europe but he died before the Met’s opening. Chéreau’s concept blends abstraction and realism to further intensify the mystery of this ancient tragedy.
Judith Reynolds is a Durango writer, art historian and arts journalist.
If you go
The MET: Live in HD presents Richard Strauss’ “Elektra” at 10:55 a.m. Saturday in the Vallecito Room of the Fort Lewis College Student Union.
Based on Hugo von Hoffmannsthal’s reinterpretation of Sophocles’ “Electra,” featuring Nina Stemme, Adrianne Pieczonka, Waltraud Meier and Eric Owens, in the late Director Patrice Chéreau’s production, conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen.
Tickets: $23 general, $21 seniors, students and MET members and are available online at www.durangoconcerts.com, by phone at 247-7657, at the Welcome Center at Eighth Street and Main Avenue or at the door.
Sung in German with English subtitles. Running time: 2 hours 10 minutes.
