Opera on 3: Elektra

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Opera on 3

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Programme presenting rare and fascinating operatic performances

Programme presenting rare and fascinating performances and vividly communicating the immediacy of the live experience

Opera on 3: Richard Strauss's Elektra

Richard Strauss's Elektra

BBC Radio 3 - Opera on 3, Richard Strauss's Elektra

Ausrine Stundyte takes the title role in Strauss's blood-soaked expressionist opera.

Ausrine Stundyte takes the title role in Strauss's great, blood-soaked expressionist one-acter, recorded at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and conducted by Antonio Pappano.

Ancient Greek tragedy combusts with early 20th-century expressionism as blood-soaked revenge drives Richard Strauss's compelling one-act masterpiece to its gripping conclusion.

Strauss based his opera on Sophocles’s play Electra. On returning from the Trojan War, King Agamemnon is murdered by his queen Klytämnestra and her lover, his cousin Aegisth. Elektra, the queen's daughter, sends her brother Orest away for his own protection. The action begins a year later.

Determined to honour her father and longing to avenge his murder, Elektra becomes increasingly unkempt, desperate and unhinged. Her sister Chrysothemis wants to escape from the oppressive atmosphere of the palace. Elektra tells the now guilt-wracked Klytämnestra that she will die a violent death, but then hears the devastating news that her brother Orest is dead. However, a mysterious stranger appears. Elektra is overjoyed when she recognises him as Orest, who then fulfils his destiny with the brutal murder first of Klytämnestra and then Aegisth.

Antonio Pappano conducts a stellar international cast including Ausrine Stundyte in the title role and Karita Mattila as her murderous mother Klytämnestra.

Recorded last month at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and introduced by Martin Handley, with contributions from Antonio Pappano and Karita Mattila. 

Richard Strauss: Elektra

Elektra ..... Ausrine Stundyte (soprano)
Chrysothemis ..... Sara Jakubiak (soprano)
Klytämnestra ..... Karita Mattila (mezzo-soprano)
Aegisth ..... Charles Workman (tenor)
Orest ..... Łukasz Goliński (bass)
Orest's companion ..... Michael Mofidian (bass)
Young servant ..... Michael Gibson (tenor)
Old servant ..... Jeremy White (bass)
Overseer ..... Lee Bisset (soprano)
Maids ..... Noa Beinart (contralto), Veena Akama-Makia, Gabrielė Kupšytė (mezzo-sopranos), Ella Taylor, Valentina Puskás (sopranos)
Royal Opera Chorus 
Orchestra of the Royal Opera House
Antonio Pappano (conductor)

Read the full synopsis on the Royal Opera House website: https://bit.ly/42QzXk5

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