Kirill Petrenko conducts Strauss’s “Elektra” at the Easter Festival in Baden-Baden

Elektra belongs to the genre of literary opera: Richard Strauss set an existing play by Hugo von Hofmannsthal to music, rather than a newly written libretto. Philipp Stölzl’s production at the Easter Festival reflects this aspect in an unusual way, by projecting sung texts onto the massive stage set in different fonts and sizes in an expressive choreography of letters. This idea not only emphasises the literary quality of Hofmannsthal’s ancient tragedy, but also allows Elektra to be experienced in a new way as a drama of words and sound.

As expressive as her bright red hair, Nina Stemme sings the role of the title heroine, whose obsessive thoughts of revenge spur on her actions. She is joined by Michaela Schuster as the proud, hate-filled Klytaemnestra and Elza van den Heever as Chrysothemis, who longs for a carefree life. Unlike in the original, the murder of Klytaemnestra and her husband Aegisth takes place on the stage.

According to Richard Strauss, the opera only achieved a “decent succès d’estime” at its Dresden premiere in 1909. Today, it impresses not only with its sound world, but is also considered a work that through its radical language reflects the aggressive mood of the time before the First World War.

Former chief conductors Karajan, Abbado and Rattle had already performed Richard Strauss’s operas with the Berliner Philharmoniker. Kirill Petrenko, who conducted Die Frau ohne Schatten in Baden-Baden and Berlin in 2023, continues this tradition. “It’s been a long time since we’ve heard an Elektra like this,” was the SWR critic’s verdict on the premiere.

Berliner Philharmoniker

Kirill Petrenko

Nina Stemme

Elza van den Heever

Michaela Schuster

Wolfgang Ablinger-Sperrhacke

Johan Reuter

Prague Philharmonic Choir

Lukáš Vasilek

Philipp Stölzl

Philipp M. Krenn