Classical Works Spotlight #513--Richard Strauss

[erik]

One of the bloodiest operas in the active operatic repertoire is in this week's Classical Works Spotlight, a work not surprisingly huge in its orchestration and drenched in mythology.

Richard Strauss: ELEKTRA

While he may have described himself as a “first-rate composer of second-rate material”, there were at least two forms in which Richard Strauss certainly excelled. One of those was, of course, the symphonic tone poem, as demonstrated by highly advanced works such as “Don Juan”, “Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks”, “Also Sprach Zarathustra”, and “Death And Transfiguration”, to name just four. The other was in the form of grand German opera. These all reflected the influence of Wagner in stretching the tonal boundaries and in terms of huge orchestrations. Much as Mozart was able to create three scintillating Italian-language operas with librettos by Lorenzo Da Ponte in his day, Strauss relied on his friend Hugo von Hoffmanstahl to provide solid librettos for his big productions. “Der Rosenkavalier” is the best known of their collaborations, but another one that is nearly as well known as “Rosenkavalier” is the 1909 opus “Elektra”. Though it is a single-act work, it is a very long act at 100-110 minutes in length, and, with a libretto by Hoffmanstahl based in the Greek mythological figure of Elektra and her bloodthirsty history. Even when compared to previous “horror” operas such as Mozart’s “Don Giovanni”, Weber’s “Der Freischutz”, or Wagner’s various Teutonic opuses, “Elektra” is an extremely bloody work. Both traditional and modern in form, “Elektra” was premiered at the Koningliches Opernhaus in Dresden on January 25, 1909, and provoked highly polarized reactions. The work found its way to London’s Royal Opera House in 1910, where a young (and not yet “Sir”) Thomas Beecham conducted that British premiere; but it took until 1931 for “Elektra” to reach U.S. shores, when the Philadelphia Grand Opera Company performed it under the direction of Fritz Reiner, a close friend of the composer. Despite the horrifying nature of the work, “Elektra” has nevertheless proven itself to be among the most durable of all post-Wagner German operas.



Elektra: EVELYN HERLITZUS
Klytamnestra: WALTRAUD MEIER
Chrysothemis: ANNE SCHWANEWILMS
Aegisth: FRANK VAN AKEN
Orest: RENE PAPER

Chorus of the Dresden State Opera

Dresden State Orchestra/CHRISTIAN THIELEMANN (Deutsche Grammophon)

[egoodstein]

It is definitely powerful and indeed bloody-- though with still beautiful (if intense) passages that in some ways move forward Wagnerian ideas into a 'newer' context, despite (or perhaps because of) the classical story/content. It's not a Struass that I personally like to listen to that often, but I do appreciate it. I think it shows very well how Strauss sought balance between new and older forms, and if he (and von Hoffmanstahl) later returned to more 'classical' musical ideas, it was still with a more modern, complicated psychological sense. Like many of his operas, it shows off the possibilities in especially female voices, and is very challenging and interesting in that way. To some extent, this opera marks an early 'climax' of his early style and important there too.

[erik]

Elektra was, in the minds of many, a very strong indication of how big of an impact Strauss on 20th century music in general, and German opera in particular, even if his later fringe association with the Nazis sort of darkened that reputation. Certainly he had a fairly big approach to opera and how to innovate it in light of all the radical changes that Wagner had instituted, especially with the Ring cycle.

As a sidenote, the recording in question was a live performance given at the Philharmonie in Berlin in January 2014 by Thielemann and the Dresden orchestra on a visit, and was widely acclaimed.