BWW Opera Review: Met's New ELEKTRA Has the Cast and Conductor--But Where's the Catharsis?

The Met's new production of Richard Strauss's ELEKTRA is something to behold, with Vincent Huguet recreating the original by the late Patrice Chereau from France's Aix-en-Provence Festival and well-traveled to Milan, Helsinki, Berlin and Barcelona. Starring the glorious Nina Stemme in the title role--and backed by the stellar performances of Waltraud Meier as Klytamnestra, Adrianne Pieczonka as Chrysothemis and Eric Owens as Orest--this is a cast that would be hard to better. Add to that, the production's original conductor, Esa-Pekka Salonen, who led an insightful, propulsive performance from the great Met orchestra. What else could we ask for?

And, yet, there was...something missing. This was the only time I've heard the opera, when the final notes (here, followed by a blackout) didn't bring me catharsis--no burst of rapture and the urge to jump up and applaud. Don't get me wrong--there was, indeed, plenty to enjoy at the production's second performance on April 18. But I wanted something more, because I've come to expect it from this opera.

Maybe it was a lack of claustrophobia; I didn't feel as if the walls were closing in on Elektra and her siblings, as they waited for the moment when they could have their revenge upon their mother. The set, in particular, by Richard Peduzzi with lighting by Dominique Bruguiere, seemed to spread things out too much; I was missing an air of people who couldn't get out of each other's way. In a way, it felt more like the Sicily of CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA than the dominion of the House of Atreus, the doomed family of ancient Greece. (I wonder if the Met's "Live in HD" performance on April 30, with its ample use of close-ups, will add some of what seemed to be missing.)

Stemme was in fine voice--fine form, in general--as the tortured Elektra. This was music that fit her perfectly ; she hit all the Strauss high notes dead-on, with piercing clarity and reminded me how wonderful her Salome was, with the Cleveland Orchestra four years ago. While this was a particularly powerless Elektra, waiting for the opportunity for revenge, you never doubted Stemme's control for a moment.

Chereau's concept for the opera brings us the more naturalistic sides of the other female characters, which, in many productions, seem to lurch into caricature. Pieczonka's Chrysothemis is not the simpering, flighty sister, but a woman of her own (though she must, inevitably, remain second fiddle to her older sister); her soprano showed the character's vulnerability, as a supple counterpoint to Stemme.

As for Meier's Klytamnestra, she's not the standard over-the-top shrew but is (almost) allowed to show that her murder of Agamemnon, Elektra's father, was not the act of a crazy woman, but of a mother grieving another of her daughters (Iphigenia). By playing her role in a calmer, more controlled way, this consummate singing-actress made the role more than a cardboard tyrant. In another of Chereau's spot-on character reconceptions, the Fifth Maid is turned into the aging nanny of the house; in the smart portrayal by Met veteran Roberta Alexander, it was hard to see how it should have ever been played another way.

The men's roles always seem much more minor in this opera, except when one's in the hands of a singer like Owens as Orest, the brother come back to murder his mother and her lover. Owens was in good, plangent voice, making the recognition scene between him and Elektra work beautifully. But I'm not quite sure what Chereau had in mind by placing him on stage, sitting off in a corner and twiddling his thumbs, while he was waiting to take action. The weak link in the cast--making the role even weaker than usual--was tenor Burkhard Ulrich as Aegisth, Klytamnestra's lover and co-conspirator, who was brought in from Germany for his company debut.

This was the second production of ELEKTRA of the season in NY, after Christine Goerke's outstanding outing with the Boston Symphony last fall at Carnegie Hall. It'll be interesting when she steps into this role at the Met, leaving behind her red gown from Carnegie Hall for the modest earthtones of Caroline de Vivaise's simple costumes, and becoming just one of the family of madmen, a la Grecque.

###

The Saturday, April 30 matinee performance of Elektra will be transmitted worldwide as part of the Met's Live in HD series, which is now seen in more than 2,000 movie theaters in 70 countries around the world, at 1 pm EDT, plus encore performances. It will also be heard on the Toll Brothers-Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network. Additional performances: April 26, 30 matinee; May 4, 7 evening. Curtain times vary: complete schedule here. Running time: 1 hour and 45 minutes, no intermission.

To post a comment, you must register and login.