Abstract
The German soprano Evelyn Herlitzius is currently celebrated as the «ideal Elektra». Now she returns to our theatre in the title role of Richard Strauss’s Elektra. In the revival of Martin Kušej's highly acclaimed production, Waltraud Meier once again sings Klytämnestra, while Tamara Wilson can be seen for the first time as Chrysothemis. The musical director is Simone Young, who has made a name for herself worldwide as a Wagner and Strauss conductor and conducted the new production of Wagner's Lohengrin in Zurich four years ago.
In this opera, first performed in 1909, Strauss used a gigantic orchestra to unleash hitherto unknown sounds, and this wildly expressionist work has lost none of its impact to this day. The archaic subject matter is shocking and fascinating in equal measure: a young, infinitely lonely woman – Elektra – is kept alive only by the idea of avenging the murder of her father Agamemnon. Once revenge has been exacted and her brother Orest has murdered their mother Klytämnestra and her lover Aegisth, Elektra dances an ecstatic dance, at the climax of which she collapses and dies.