Customer Reviews

Strauss: Elektra ~ Karajan

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How fortunate we are that one recording of Elektra with von Karajan on the podium has surfaced! The conductor himself vowed never to do this opera in the recording studio due to the emotional drain he experienced after each performance. This recording proves why!

Karajan in my opinion, is the perfect Strauss conductor after Karl Bohm. His Rosenkavalier, Ariadne auf Naxos, and Salome are simply stunning, and one would wish that he took Frau Ohne Schatten to the studio. His tone poem recordings bring out the lushness and richness in Strauss' score without mixing up the instruments in a cacophonic way that other Strauss conductors usually do. In this Salzburg Festival performance, he not only brings the dementia of Elektra in a most transparent and clear manner. He also brings out the lushness of the score without tangling the orchestra. It is both thrilling and touching, and if it is not as visceral as Solti's amazing Elektra with Birgit Nilsson, it is perhaps the most civilized. I consider it to be the best conducted Elektra ever, albeit the few cuts made in this and that portion of the score.

If Karajan was thought by others to be inadequate in terms of vocal choice, I think they should look at the cast in this performance. The Elektra is none other than Astrid Varnay. With the dark hue of her voice and her extremely precise musicianship, one could say that she is the perfect Elektra. She conveys the entire emotional palette that makes this role so difficult--the sorrow, the madness, the anger, the sadist, the sexual, and the thrill of course, that makes this role such a vocal killer. Amazingly, she hits all the notes dead on. Her Elektra may have been recorded earlier, but nowhere is it better heard than in this recording.

Her Klytamnestra is Martha Modl, one of the greatest dramatic/ character sopranos of the golden age of Wagner. She makes her Klytamnestra not only noble and sorrowful, but looney to an extent as well. It is a most compelling performance. Orest is sung by Eberhard Waechter, a perfect complement to Varnay's Elektra. The only member of this cast that does not seem to set the stage on fire is Hildegard Hillebrecht as Chrysothemis, but that does not matter if you have such an amazing cast.

Fue una verdadera suerte para todos los amantes de la música (sobre todo la de Richard Strauss) que se pudiera grabar esta representación en vivo del 1964. En esta grabación en vivo podemos apreciar al duo Varnay-Karajan en todo su esplendor. La relación artística de Astrid Varnay y Herbert Von Karajan no fue muy prolífica, ya que desde la Walkiria de Bayreuth 1951, y la Isolde de un Tristan und Isolde de 1952, no se habían reunido estas dos personalidades artísticas tan fuertes. Herbert Von Karajan dirige Elektra de una manera absolutamente impresionante. El sonido es magmático, denso y corpulento (tan diferente a lo que solía ser el estilo de Karajan, tan preciosista y refinado) La intensidad y fuerza interpretativa de la orquesta son impresionantes. El mismo maestro Karajan, le confió a la protagonista de esta grabación, Astrid Varnay, que esta partitura lo dejaba en tal estado de agotamiento físico, que no podría interpretar con frecuencia esta obra. Cosa, que por lo demas cumplió, ya que no dirigiría mas esta obra hasta su muerte. De allí el incalculable valor de este documento. La impresionante concepción dramática y orquestal de Karajan, se funde a la perfección con la visión que del personaje tenía Astrid Varnay. La voz de la Varnay, que era muy oscura, con poderosos y corpulentos agudos, se adaptaba muy bien a la escritura del personaje. Pero lo que hace aún mas grandiosa y única esta interpretación es el espeluznante fraseo. Todos los mas variados sentimientos presentes en la compleja escritura vocal de este personaje, están puntualmente interpretados por la Varnay. Desde las explosiones de sonido, en las escenas donde maldice a la madre Klintemnestra, hasta los sorprendentes efectos líricos del duo con la misma. De antología. Es cierto, que algunos agudos no tenían la seguridad de los de sus años de juventud (escuchar la versión Reiner 1952), pero el personaje había ganado en profundidad y grandeza. El resto del cast, gira entorno al dúo Karajan-Varnay, pero es de antología también. Martha Mödl es ampliamente conocida por todos los amantes de la opera y criticos musicales, por sus maravillosas interpretaciones de Fidelio, Parsifal, Tristan und Isolde y sobre todo por su muy original Brunhilde bajo la dirección de Furtwängler. Como klintemnestra, la ayuda mucho el registro central del personaje, por lo que no debe enfrentarse a una tesitura particularmente aguda, cosa que fue siempre el talón de aquiles de esta gran cantante y sobre todo en 1964, cuando ya no se encontraba en su forma vocal ideal; pero su interpretación desde el punto de vista del fraseo y del color vocal es absolutamente perfecta. Ella sabe expresar idealmente la majestad de la madre ofendida por los insultos de Elektra, como pocas otras intérpretes. Hildegard Hillebrecht es una lírica y radiosa Crisotemis, y como tal un ideal contraste con la tenebrosidad de la Varnay y de la Mödl, como en definitiva debe ser este rol. El de Crisotemis es el personaje mas sano y normal de la obra y debe apreciarse en el estilo de canto. Wächter y King logran cumplir acertadamente con sus respectivos personajes, el primero con su estilo elegante y refinado y el segundo con su voz redonda. En definitiva una versión ideal de Elektra, además de ser un acontecimiento histórico doble, en primer lugar por la reunión de Astrid Varnay y Herbert Von Karajan en una grabación, y en segundo lugar por contar con la versión directorial de Elektra por parte de Von Karajan. Junto con esta versión, habría que comprar la de Solti-Nilsson, y la Mitropoulos-Borkh, ambas versiones de estilo muy diferente a esta, pero igualmente grandiosas.

In her delightful autobiography, "55 Years in Five Acts", Astrid Varnay devotes an entire chapter to this production at the 1964 Salzburg Festival, and once you listen to the recording, you'll understand why. It was also the occassion of the mending of a longstanding rift between Varnay and conductor Herbert von Karajan. After the revived run the following year with the same cast, von Karajan let it be known that he felt that this production represented such an apex of quality in his artistic career that he never intended to conduct the opera again. And he never did.
All of the roles are incredibly performed. Martha Modl, a great Wagnerian dramatic soprano, brings a searing intensity to the role of Klytamnestra. (Modl started as a mezzo, and in her mid 50s when she sang this production, had returned to mezzo roles.) The other leads, Hildegard Hillebrecht as Chrysothemis, Eberhard Waechter as Orest, and the great American tenor James King as Aegisth all do more than justice to their roles.
But Astrid Varnay, one of the great singing actresses of post World War II opera, simply tears up the stage. Elektra is an incredibly intense role, and Ms. Varnay, of whom it was once said could dominate a stage just by sitting still, brings all of her ferocious talent to bear. Interestingly enough, some years later, when her top notes had gone, Varnay reinvented herself as a character mezzo, and among her top roles was Klytamnestra. But back in 1964 she still had all her vocal gifts, as well as her formidable acting talent and 23 years experience onstage. And it shows in her riveting performance of the title role.
And don't forget von Karajan conducting the Vienna Philharmonic. They play with a power and intensity that matches the level of the singing. A digitally remastered monaural recording, (why wasn't it done in stereo?), the sound quality is excellent for this live recording.

Fabulous evening! Varnay here gives an historical performance in the tittle-role. Never has she sung Elektra like this before! In 1953 she recorded the role for the first time with Clemens Krauss after having left the part of Salome. The voice was already well suited to this much more difficult character but lacked something in experience. In 1964, the voice never sounds old but heavier after so many festivals in Bayreuth as Brünnhilde and Varnay was already singing mezzo parts like Herodias, Ortrud... With Karajan, she gives the performance of her life as Elektra with very well disciplined voice although one can prefer Inge Bork as the perfect incarnation of Elektra in the "wild cat" way. Mödl as Klytämnestra is fabulous. Her voice sounds all the contrary without any of the reflects she used to have when she still could tackle the dramatic soprano repertoire with Leonore, Isolde or Kundry. Compared to her recordings of the Nurse in the Frau at Munich one year before or as Waltraute in die Götterdämmerung at Bayreuth 3 years later, she even is more desastrous. But the typical accents she always gave to her characterizations here sound all the more pathetic. Hillebrecht as Chrysothemis actually replaces Rysanek previously cast (she was no longer working with Karajan despite their fabulous performances of the Frau the same year at the Vienna Opera as he wanted her as his next Salome that she refused!). Hillebrecht is only an Ersatz : she has a very fine voice indeed and is characterful enough but without any of the qualites or defects that have made the Austrian singer an international star. Maybe Hillebrecht still remains the best choice in the Karajan's view... Wächter is excellent but does not equal Fischer-Dieskau in this role. Karajan himself is sensational as he conducts a real tragedy that could have been from Orff rather than a true lyrical opera from Strauss. This already well-known live and mono recording is better remastered than ever but still dates from 1964 and therefore has some constrictions without the total atmospheric sound required for that opera.

I can't see that there is any need for wringing our hands over the fact that Karajan never took Elektra into the recording studio. This live event from Salzburg in 1964 rests easily at the top of the Elektra recordings as far as I'm concerned.
At first glance the leading ladies, if Elektra and Klytämnestra can be called ladies, strike us as being a little super-annuated for such an assignment. As usual, however, Karajan knew what he was doing when he cast the two great Brünnhildes from Bayreuth in the 1950s as the two powerful leads in this amazing performance. Astrid Varnay had been singing Elektra for at least 12 years and Martha Mödl, who had by 1964 changed to the mezzo-soprano roles, was nearing the end of her viable recording career, in opera, but does not sound wobbly AT ALL in this recording, and sings with her usual volcanic dramatic intensity.

Elektra is basically a story of a crazy mother and her two crazy daughters, one of whom is set on avenging the death of her father who has been murdered by the crazy mother and her effeminate lover. Then the prodigal brother returns from a long exile to find the household in disarray to say the least, and proceeds to murder the crazy mother and her lover. The eldest daughter then dances herself to death in the front yard. An ancient Greek tragedy that could easily appear on the front pages of the National Enquirer and not raise a single eyebrow these days.

It may seem tawdry but it is profoundly tragic as Sophocles and Richard Strauss saw it. Herbert von Karajan got it as well, and turns in what may be, arguably, his very greatest recorded performance of anything. I've been listening to this opera for over 40 years, starting with the famous Solti/Nilsson on Decca, then Böhm/Borkh on DG, Mitropoulos/Borkh on Orfeo also from Salzburg like Karajan's, and finally the splendid Sinopoli/Marc version, perhaps the most gorgeously vocalized leading role of the entire bunch. All of these conductors are superb but none of them brings out so many hitherto unheard details and melodic lines that have previously lane buried, even dormant in the over-all noise of the thing in other hands.

Karajan sees Elektra first and foremost as a very beautifully melodic Strauss opera. The many dissonances are all the more shocking and destabilizing for being surrounded by such lush melodic beauty. The Vienna Philharmonic is unbeatable in its virtuosity here. Karajan takes the opening scene with the maids at quite a fast clip, it sounds crazy.
Then Varnay appears and my mind instantly pictured this mad woman lurking in the black shadows amongst chipped and sinister columns. She is riveting from start to finish. The voice was never what could be called beautiful but it was powerful and steady, if a bit like a shriek from time to time on some of the high notes, but those moments are apt for the part. Mödl, like Varnay, responds acutely to Karajan's direction and turns in a performance that unrolls vividly in the mind's eye as well as the ear. The real surprise here is the splendid Chrysothemis from Hildegard Hillebrecht. I had only heard this relatively unheralded singer as Böhm's Ariadne. There she sounded like a cow in parturition and really rather ruined that otherwise excellently sung performance. So it was a real delight to hear her singing out with a huge golden tone and acting as if her life depended on it.

So all three of the female leads are in the very top league in their respective roles. The excellent maids include some greats from the 1960s including Lucia Popp and Helen Watts.

This Karajan Elektra is now my desert island recording of Elektra, edging out the long-time champ in this opera, Mitropoulos.

I am as grateful as the other reviewers that we have a record of Karajan's Elektra, an opera that was among his favorites but which he abandoned after 1964. Orfeo's sound is an improvement on previous issues, but for broadcast mono, the sonics were always good. the voices don't wander off mike with rare exceptions, and the balance allows us to gain a reasonably good image of the Vienna Phil. (if only the recording had been done in stereo to capture more of their glorious contribution). Karajan's view of the score is searing and intense; he doesn't carry us into the realm of frenzied psychopathology the way Solti does in his famous Decca recording, also with the Vienna Phil. I wouldn't want to part with either, although it must be said immediately that Solti has the edge not only in sound but in his singing cast, with every role managed superlatively (with the exception of a frail Chrysothemis from Marie Collier -- her tremulousness could even be seen as an asset, however).

The version that this live 1964 performance competes with head-to-head is Mitropoulos in 1957, also from Salzburg with the Vienna Phil. and in reasonable mono. Both lead sopranos, Inge Borkh for Mitropoulos and Astrid Varnay for Karajan, possess the stage fiercely, as Elektra must. Tearing the score to shreds if need be, Mitropoulos brings us closer to tragic catharsis than perhaps even the composer himself could have imagined. Borkh had a leathery voice but made up in dramatic terror for what she lacked in beauty of tone. Varnay is stately and commanding more than mad. By this stage of her career, although only in her mid-forties, Varnay was a few years past her vocal prime. The voice was never beautiful, and at times she lunges at top notes that may or may not come off as written. Even so, her presence as a vocal actress is backed up with a powerful vocal range. (Earlier reviewers who hear perfect execution are living in fantasy land.) In both performances the supporting cast, all accomplished veterans, throw themselves into their roles. For those who complain of Hillebrecht's less than stellar Chrysothemis, I'd respond that Kurt Boehme's cavernous Orest for Mitropoulos is too old and ponderous to be Elektra's brother. It's as if Fafner wandered into the wrong opera.

Speaking personally, I find the Karajan version easier to live with, subtler in its musicality, far more disciplined in the orchestral part, and equally tragic. Here is arguably the greatest opera conductor of the century immersed in one of his favorite scores. He weaves the magic essential to a classic performance.

Karajan's only Elektra on record - the last that he conducted. Karajan is so different in 1964 than when he made his recordings in the 1970s and 1980s. This is an earth shattering performance. The transparency in the orchestra is amazing even though this is a live performance. Astrid Varnay in her prime - a superb Elektra.

Too many times one can get lured into spinning miester. I bought this CDs upon 5 star rating by several Amazon listeners. Now having heard all five available reportoirs : this one, Solti/VPO, Bohm/DPO, Sinopoli/VPO, and RCG/Dohnanyi, I can say that Solti's Sofiensaal-recorded version is the one to get. There, Decca has cleaned up the sound using Cedar/SNS 96KHz/24 bit technology, but more so on the drama, tension, superb noise-making by VPO, and overall feel of getting the value from the money well spent.

Here is the analysis of this CD: The sound quality here is mono, muffled, and with lots of hiss, if you are trying to listen to the soprano. It sounds more like recording from Bayreuth (esteemed venue of worst recordings), but actually from a live performance from Salzburg Festival on 17th August 1964 at the Großes Festspielhaus.(see http://www.salzburgfestival.at/popup_spielstaette.php?lang=en&id=3)

It just mars the experience of real / royal bitching by Elektra and Klytamnestra. The dogs - I mean Aegisths and Orest are even worse.

Upon further exploring the music, I checked the quality of ADD conversion. What I found is that Orfeo did not do even the least work on restoration of this work, especially if it is of such monumental nature. The WAV stream depicts the problem. The most rancorous sound is set at max volume, thus causing all subsequent amplitudes to be so drastically reduced that this is the criminal act on part of record producing. Most of the WAV is @ 15-22% of max amplitude (i.e volume). If you were to use a decent wave editor/ cleaner (like GoldWave, WavePad, Audacity, Nero, SoundForge, SonicFoundry, Sonar, etc..) you could know that the problem ....Orfeo did not do the job correctly.

In contrast, I think Karajan/VPO/Decca&EMI monoaural version of Der Rosenkavalier is far superior to later recording in stereo. It not that Orfeo cannot do it, they chose not to do it for this CDs. And that is the qualms for spending full price money for third-class record.