Richard Strauss: Elektra [Original recording remastered]

Richard Strauss (Composer), Georg Solti (Conductor), Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (Orchestra), Birgit Nilsson (Performer), Felicia Weathers (Performer), Gerhard Stolze (Performer), Gerhard Unger (Performer), Helen Watts (Performer), Tom Krause (Performer), Leo Heppe (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Birgit Nilsson, Felicia Weathers, Gerhard Stolze, Gerhard Unger, Helen Watts, et al.
• Orchestra: Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
• Conductor: Georg Solti
• Composer: Richard Strauss
• Audio CD (May 8, 2007)
• SPARS Code: ADD
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Label: Decca
• ASIN: B000KLRUJS
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #22,553 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #91 in Music > Classical > Opera & Vocal > Languages > German

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Powerhouse Recording that Deserves All Praise, June 30, 2007

By 

The Cultural Observer - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Richard Strauss: Elektra (Audio CD)

Solti's Elektra was the very first recording to remove all cuts from the score (as with all the Maestro's recorded work). For many listeners such as myself, it is perhaps the definitive Elektra on disc, not only for the high voltage intensity of the singing, but also for Solti's energetic conducting of the score and the magnificent detail at which the entire sound picture of Elektra is revealed in this recording. Although I love Karajan's 1965 Elektra at Salzburg with Astrid Varnay and Jeffrey Tate's 1990 recording from Geneva with Gwyneth Jones and Leonie Rysanek, this recording captures what is perhaps one of the most compelling performances of the opera on record. There is first of all Birgit Nilsson's command performance in the title role. There has never been a soprano who had Nilsson's uncanny ability to sing what is perhaps Strauss' most difficult role for soprano with the kind of ease and power that we can hear in this recording. Perhaps one would wish that a darker timbre and a more "agonized" sound would have taken the role, but Strauss' vocal writing simply poses no hurdles for the soprano as she hurls the high notes that made her famous. It is also note complete, so we get to hear whatever notes and texts we don't hear in the theatre. A brilliant performance, and perhaps one of Nilsson's greatest achievements in the studio. She is partnered by the Klytämnestra of Regina Resnik, who offers a grotesque interpretation that rightly contrasts well with Leonie Rysanek's erotic, theatrical assumption many years later. Resnik makes a caricature out of the role that may either satisfy the listener of displease him depending one whether one wants something more realistic or more extreme. Marie Collier, likewise, sings Chrysothemis with all the theatrical effects that would have been avoided by Leonie Rysanek many years earlier in the theater. I find that this great artist (who we lost when she was so tragically young) imbues her character with the right kind of psychological madness that all the more tips the already tipsy boat in the opera. Gerhard Stolze makes the already grotesque Aegisthus more grotesque than he already is. Tom Krause sings Orest with conviction, although one could wish for someone like Hans Hotter to sing the role in order to convey the nobility and grandeur of the character.

Solti leads the Vienna Philharmonic in the frenzy that this score truly typifies. I still wish that they had asked Karajan to do this opera in the studio since he was able to bring so much out of Strauss' score, but we at least have these gargantuan forces to contend with in the absence of a Karajan studio recording.

A truly mad and demented performance if there ever was one, but you should look at Gwyneth Jones' 1990 performance from Claves records to hear what a theatrical Elektra should sound like.
Richard Strauss: Elektra

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Definitive Elektra, November 8, 2010

By 

Ron Elguera "artbyelguera" (Albuquerque, New Mexico) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Richard Strauss: Elektra (Audio CD)

Make no mistake about it, next to Schoenberg's twelve tone operas, Strauss' Elektra is probably the most difficult of all operas for the neophyte to listen to. Most neophytes who love Salome upon first listening, cannot tolerate Elektra...it 'drives them up the wall'! Composed just after Salome, Elektra, from a musical standpoint, is light years more developed than Salome and considered to be the most 'Strausserian' of all Strauss operas. Strauss saw where music was evolving and didn't have the heart to venture into the new dissonant territory. He went right up to the borderline of dissonance, but never crossed it, and Elektra is the work that epitomizes Strauss' innovations. After Elektra, Strauss did an 'about face' and never returned to the stark, blood and guts that make these works so mesmerizing. Personally, I think it a shame, for his subject matter progressively became more and more insubstantial, depending more and more upon the strength of his music to support an otherwise bland storyline.
For the seasoned listener, this recording is the definitive Elektra. There is no need to listen to any others, for none can surpass this! Over the years I have listened to this recording more than a hundred times and I never tire of it.
Solti conducts the Vienna Philharmonic with such intense energy it requires almost as much from the listener as it does from the performers. First time listeners be forewarned: give this recording your undivided attention and you will spend the rest of your day in a trance!
Regina Resnik IS the quintessential Clytamnestra. Her singing, while brilliant in sound, carries with it all the torture and torment of this demented woman, while her hysterical laughter, when hearing Orestes is dead, can never be equaled; likewise is her shriek of pure terror when Orestes strangles her to death. Resnik has here set the standard for all subsequent Clytamnestras to follow.
Birgit Nilsson sings an angry, aggressive Elektra obsessed for revenge.
This is a fairly standard interpretation but what makes Nilsson stand out from all others is a voice that can shatter a 20 pound diamond!
Marie Collier is not to be outdone as the gentle, feminine Chrysotemis. Other reviewers have criticized her for howling when she hears that Orestes is dead, but I think it adds wonderfully to the overall drama and suspect that her howl was, in fact, Solti's innovation.
Tom Krause's Orestes is dark, sinister, and foreboding; In a word, perfectly cast.
Likewise is Gerhard Stolze. His portrayal of Aegisth is beautifully gullible, cowardly and stupid.
To reiterate: for me, this is the one and only audio recording of Elektra. All others pale by comparison. If the listener has an interest in Strauss at his absolute best, get this recording.....you'll never be sorry!
For those interested, please check out my fully illustrated libretto of Madama Butterfly now available on Amazon.The Fully Illustrated Libretto of Puccini's Madama Butterfly (Madam Butterfly or Madame Butterfly) (Graphic Novel) (Illustrated Opera Librettos and Graphic Novels, Volume 1)

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding - review taken from previously-released remastered version of this recording, November 8, 2008

By 

Alexander Z. Damyanovich (Flesherton, Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Richard Strauss: Elektra (Audio CD)

Ideally, I'd have given this recording 4.5 stars (the thing that bothers me is Marie Collier's howling and crying as Chrysothemis: much as it is indeed called-for in the score, it seems overdone...); since that's not available, let it have the full 5 as it otherwise deserves it. This is particularly so given its presenting the full uncut musical text of the opera (apparently all the other recordings, with the possible exception of the Sawallisch, have the same 6-7 cuts that are usually made with staged performances); in any case, the performances (particularly those of Solti and the Wiener Philharmoniker, as well as of Nilsson and Krause - what power!!!) make this recording an absolute must in any serious classical music collection - especially with any Straussians! People, do your best to get this recording - when most others are cut, this is then an essential item in one's recording library - be one an opera-lover, musician (be it as a singer or as an instrumentalist), or simply a music-lover.

Now, hearing that this latest re-issue is supposed to be better-still (compared to its predecessor) in terms of bringing out the full riches of the original 1967 LP recording, one can be all the more enthusiastic in acquiring it!