Metropolitan Opera Preview: Elektra

Nina Stemme is out for blood in this new production.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

It's a trick. Get an ax: Nina Stemme and friend in Elektra.
Photo by Marty Sohl © 2016 The Metropolitan Opera.

Although it is one of the loudest operas ever written, Richard Strauss' Elektra is spoken of in hushed tones. It is Greek tragedy writ large: an intense 100-minute thrill ride through a musical funhouse. Here, Nina Stemme takes on the challenging title role in this new production, an import from Aix-en-Provence.

Opera Review: Home for the Holidays

Elektra returns to the Met for the Yuletide...er..slaughter. 
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Never were there such a pair of sisters. Susan Bullock (top) and Deborah Voigt
in a scene from Richard Strauss' Elektra.
Photo by Marty Sohl © 2009 The Metropolitan Opera.

Elektra may seem like a weird choice for a holiday offering. The blood-spattered Greek tragedy brings the sledge-hammer orchestration of Richard Strauss to the bloody tale of Orest and his return to the House of Atreus, where he slaughters his mother and her lover in a series of events that wouldn't be ouf of place in a George R. R. Martin fantasy novel.