Elektra (Strauss)

Elektra, Op. 58, is a one-act opera by Richard Strauss, to a German-language libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal, which he adapted from his 1903 drama Elektra. The opera was the first of many collaborations between Strauss and Hofmannsthal. It was first performed at the Dresden State Opera on January 25, 1909.
Elektra is a difficult work and is musically complex. A performance requires musicians with great stamina. The role of Elektra in particular is one of the most demanding in the dramatic soprano repertoire.
Despite being based on ancient Greek mythology, the opera is highly modernist and expressionist. Hofmannsthal and Strauss's adaptation of the story focuses tightly on Elektra, thoroughly developing her character by single-mindedly expressing her emotions and psychology as she meets with other characters mostly one at a time. The other characters are Klytaemnestra, Elektra's mother and one of the murderers of Agamemnon, Elektra's father; her sister, Chrysothemis; her brother, Orestes; and Klytaemnestra's lover, Aegisthus. None of them show much development; all are secondary to the story.
Everything else from the myth is minimized as background to Elektra's character and her obsession. Other aspects of the ancient story are completely excluded, tightening the focus on Elektra's furious lust for revenge. The result is a very modern, expressionistic retelling of the ancient Greek myth. Compared to Sophocles's Electra, the opera presents raw, brutal, violent, and bloodthirsty horror.
Elettra (Elektra) è un'opera in un atto di Richard Strauss su libretto di Hugo von Hofmannsthal, che lo derivò dalla sua tragedia Elettra, la quale si rifà alla tragedia omonima di Sofocle.
L'opera fu rappresentata in prima assoluta al Königliches Opernhaus di Dresda il 25 gennaio 1909, diretta da Ernst von Schuch, raccogliendo scarso successo. La fortuna dell'opera iniziò l'anno seguente, quando fu eseguita al Covent Garden di Londra, diretta da Thomas Beecham (10 febbraio 1910).
Insieme a Salomè rientra nel primo periodo del teatro musicale di Strauss, caratterizzato in chiave espressionista. L'orchestra, estremamente nutrita, tiene i fili di un discorso musicale caratterizzato da aspre dissonanze e sonorità parossistiche, spesso travolgendo le voci a cui è affidato un canto prevalentemente declamatorio.
Richard Strauss (1864-1949): Elektra, Opera in un Atto su libretto di Hugo von Hofmannsthal tratto dalla tragedia omonima di Sofocle (1909).

Elektra: Linda Watson
Klytämnestra: Jane Henschel
Chrysothemis: Manuela Uhl
Aegisth: René Kollo
Orest: Albert Dohmen

Philharmonia Chor Wien
Münchener Philharmoniker
Direttore: Christian Thielemann
Elektra (op.58) ist eine Oper in einem Aufzug von Richard Strauss. Das Libretto schrieb Hugo von Hofmannsthal, das erste von insgesamt sechs Libretti aus der erfolgreichen Zusammenarbeit der beiden Künstler. Elektra gehört wie Salome zur Gattung der sogenannten Symphonieoper, die mit Elektra ihren Höhepunkt fand. Im Mittelpunkt der Oper steht wie in Salome eine mythische Frauenfigur, die sich gegen ihre Familie auflehnt. Gegenüber der Oper Salome ist das Orchester mit 111 Musikern weiter vergrößert, die leitmotivische Arbeit ist zu einer mit dem Ohr kaum mehr wahrnehmbaren Dichte gesteigert, und an vielen Stellen werden die Grenzen der Tonalität gesprengt.
Die Uraufführung der Oper fand am 25. Januar 1909 an der Dresdner Hofoper statt, die Rolle der Klytämnestra sang Ernestine Schumann-Heink.
Electra (título original en alemán, Elektra) es una ópera en un acto con música de Richard Strauss y libreto en alemán de Hugo von Hofmannsthal, fruto de una de las primeras colaboraciones de ambos basado en el mito griego de Electra de acuerdo a Sófocles. Fue estrenada el 25 de enero de 1909 en el Königliches Opernhaus de Dresde.