Strauss' Elektra (opera in concert)
Esa-Pekka Salonen (conductor) – Lise Lindstrom (Elektra), Ingela Brimberg (Chrysothemis), Anna Larsson (Klytaemnestra), Eric Owens (Orest)... – Verbier Festival Orchestra
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Cast
Lise Lindstrom — Elektra
Ingela Brimberg — Chrysothemis
Anna Larsson — Klytaemnestra
Eric Owens — Orest
Wolfgang Ablinger-Sperrhacke — Aegisth
Jasper Leever — Orest's Tutor, An Old Servant
Aleksandra Rybakova — Klytaemnestra's Confidante, An Overseer
Anna Harvey — The Trainbearer, Fourth Maid
Andrew Staples — A Young Servant
Idunnu Münch — First Maid
Anastasiia Sidorova — Second Maid
Bethan Langford — Third Maid
Anna-Maria Palii — Fifth Maid
Esa-Pekka Salonen — Conductor
Program notes
After the opening concert performance of Salomé, the Verbier Festival presents a second Richard Strauss masterpiece in concert: Elektra. A festival highlight featuring Maestro Esa-Pekka Salonen at the baton—a seasoned conductor of this work—, the formidable trio of Lise Lindstrom, Ingela Brimberg, and Anna Larsson in the leading female roles, and Eric Owens in the role of Orest.
Like Salomé, Elektra is a Literaturoper, setting music to a pre-existing literary text. After seeing a performance of the Viennese poet Hugo von Hofmannsthal's play Elektra, Strauss decided, with von Hofmannsthal's consent, to transform the work into an opera. A reworking of Sophocles' legendary Greek tragedy of Antiquity, Strauss' Elektra calls for a massive orchestra, one of the largest in the history of opera.
After his return from the Trojan Wars, Agamemnon is assassinated by his wife Clytemnestra and her lover Aegisthus. Elektra, the daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, is consumed by her desire for vengeance...
Made possible by the support of the Tabor Foundation.
Photo: Esa-Pekka Salonen © Minna Hatinen