Elektra-fying Experience

First of all, Richard Strauss’ Elektra is a masterpiece, plain and simple - beautiful, powerful and short.  It is one of the very few operas that actually has ever made me lose sense of space and time.  In the medium of opera, with its inherent ridiculousness and breathtaking conceit, that is truly a feat.  The only other work that has made me feel – what’s the word? – transported – is Salome, also by Strauss, also brilliant, and also short, but it premiered four years before Elektra in 1905.  Both represent the bridge between Romanticism and the Modernism to come, and both nearly caused a scandal when they were first performed for employing some very forward-thinking harmonic elements.  These days, though, to our 21^st century ears, they sound like the twilight of Romanticism; restless, moody and explosive.  Back in the day, they really got people flustered. 

Besides the music, everything about Elektra is fairly straightforward; the cast is not extensive, the setting never changes and no one has to do too much acting.  And by sticking with this basic approach and emphasizing the piece’s musical content, the Seattle Opera has come out with one of its best productions in years.  The parts of Elektra and Klytamnestra, sung by Janice Baird and Rosalind Plowright, respectively, were tour de force performances.  Everyone else in the cast proved more than competent, but the two lead sopranos really rose above all others.  And the orchestra was tremendous.  Guest conductor Asher Fisch handled the extremely dense score expertly, bringing out bits of color and harmonic panache while making the ensemble sound like a single instrument.

In short, I loved this production.  It was Seattle Opera’s to screw up, but instead, they kept it simple and it turned out magnificently.  I can remember all the overthinking that resulted in the mess of the Ring Cycle in the nineties and various other debacles since then, so I was on my guard.  But all my worries were for nothing.  I cannot recommend an opera more than this one.  If you can’t see it, get a recording.  It’s a dynamite piece, though it contains few if any hummable tunes.  Take my word for it, this is as good as it gets.

Funny thing, I began reviewing several years ago so that I could gripe about Seattle Opera productions.  At the time, there was plenty to gripe about; weird realizations, dubious works and ludicrous staging.  But this is the Seattle Opera at its best.  Please go see this opera.  I’m beggin’ ya.  

Elektra plays through November 1st at McCaw Hall.