Product Details

• Actors: Eva Marton, Cheryl Studer, Brigitte Fassbaender, James King, Franz Grundheber
• Directors: Brian Large
• Writers: Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Sophocles
• Format: Classical, Color, DVD, Subtitled, NTSC
• Language: German (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo), German (Dolby Digital 5.1)
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Image Entertainment
• DVD Release Date: October 30, 2001
• Run Time: 109 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00005OCLK
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #283,494 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Richard Strauss - Elektra / Abbado, Marton, Fassbaender, Vienna State Opera" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

There is a special category of German opera--we might call it the repellent masterpiece--in which some works of Richard Strauss are prominent, and Elektra is perhaps the pinnacle, certainly a unique experience. This production fulfills all the opera's requirements for mastery and repulsion.

Opera frequently deals with dysfunctional families, but the clan of Agamemnon, Clytemnestra, Elektra, and Orestes stands out even when compared with those of Oedipus or Medea. Deep, burning hatred, a thirst for revenge, a violent distaste for one's nearest and dearest are the driving forces in this work, which is essentially about the imperative of killing Mommy because she has murdered Daddy, who long ago killed Little Sister. Creating a musical masterpiece out of such material was a daunting challenge, and Richard Strauss fulfilled it spectacularly with music that celebrates the powers of darkness. This Vienna State Opera production captures the music's shadowy, muscular essence. --Joe McLellan

Product Description

World famous conductor Claudio Abbado extracts a harrowing performance from the peerless Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra during this production of Strauss's opera of revenge, torment and horror. The music is infused with an eeriness that heightens the emotions on stage and adds to director Harry Kupfer's bold tale of tyranny and bloodshed. The Vienna State Opera is flawless with Eva Marton giving an uninhibited and exultant performance in the title role.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars GIVING IT THEIR ALL, May 10, 2004

By 

GEORGE RANNIE "GWRJWMCL" (DENVER, COLORADO United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Richard Strauss - Elektra / Abbado, Marton, Fassbaender, Vienna State Opera (DVD)

For a truly riveting operatic experience, you must see/hear this DVD! Eva Marton is at the very height of her operatic career giving vocally and dramatically everything she had (and that was a lot in the 1980's when this performance was taped). I don't feel that any other singer could give more than she does in this role. Cheryl Studer is awesome and also at the height of her powers. This performance proves that Cheryl should have stuck with the Germans and avoided, like the plague, Lucia and Violetta. What a career she could have had!! Fassbaender is down right scary playing a truly demented and crazed mother. All of the aforesaid singers are really into their roles giving performances of a lifetime.

The production, at the time, was controversial and was booed at this performance. Now it is simply exciting providing a memorable Elektra. After all, this ain't no fairy tale and this production does NOT treat it as one.

With Abbado directing the hell out of this score, this operatic performance will stick with you for the rest of your life. So if you want to see opera at its most exciting and at its very darkest buy this DVD.

26 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars daddy's little girl, April 23, 2001

By 

Alejandra Vernon "artist & illustrator" (Long Beach, California) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Richard Strauss - Elektra / Claudio Abbado, Wiener Staatsoper [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This is a particularly dark production in every sense of the word...with the exception of Chrysothemis' red undershirt, the sets and costumes are predominately navy blue and black, with spots of light for illumination, and it works well for this murder and revenge story.

Richard Strauss certainly composed some powerhouse parts for women, and this one could be compared to Salome in the sense that the title role is on stage throughout the entire opera, though the score is not as "accessible" and of course, Electra doesn't get to do that dance with the veils...

My favorite scene is when Orestes shows up...the duet is extraordinary, and the music for Klytemnestra's murder never fails to give me chills.

Eva Marton is brilliant as Electra. She puts her heart and soul into it, at one point singing with tears streaming down her face. Claudio Abbado does a fabulous job with this difficult score, Brigitte Fassbänder is stupendous as Klytemnestra, and Cheryl Studer excellent as Chrysothemis. Other good performances come from Franz Grundheber as Orestes, and James King as Aegisthus. The subtitles make the plot understandable, and it comes with a little insert that tells the story. Total running time (with the curtain calls) is 1:48.

If you're a die-hard German opera fan, you're going to love this...otherwise, you might last about 15 minutes...and miss all the good parts ! To be honest, this one isn't easy, but rewarding if you stick with it...it's great Greek drama, and Strauss at his best.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Marton a little wobbley but who cares, she is Elektra, October 12, 2001

By 

James Walters (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Richard Strauss - Elektra / Abbado, Marton, Fassbaender, Vienna State Opera (DVD)

I admit that Marton is past her prime in this recording, and that a wobble does enter her voice, but who cares! What a dynamic performance. She acts it without holding back AT ALL. And her singing is all out emotion. I am usually a proponent of "beautiful singing" even in German music, but Marton is so seductively Elektra I could care less that her voice is less than perfect, it is a pleasing sound, once call tell that it was at one time exquisitely beautiful, but that it has been marred by time, and circumstance....hmmm kind of like Elektra. If you want the best production/performance of Elektra this is it. period.