Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site olivej.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!decvax!ittvax!qumix!qubix!ios!oliveb!olivej!greg From: greg@olivej.UUCP (Greg Paley) Newsgroups: net.music.classical Subject: S.F. Opera "Elektra" - Performance Review Message-ID: <244@olivej.UUCP> Date: Mon, 5-Nov-84 13:34:07 EST Article-I.D.: olivej.244 Posted: Mon Nov 5 13:34:07 1984 Date-Received: Thu, 8-Nov-84 03:48:59 EST Organization: Olivetti ATC, Cupertino, Ca Lines: 102 I enjoy it greatly when other people share their live performance experiences on the net, so I thought I'd do the same. I saw Richard Strauss' "Elektra" at the San Francisco Opera yesterday afternoon (Sunday matinee, Nov. 4). The S.F. Opera Orchestra was conducted by Jeffrey Tate. Principals were Janis Martin (Elektra) Carol Neblett (Chrysothemis) Viorica Cortez (Klytemnestra) Peter Wimberg (Orestes) and Dennis Bailey (Aegisth). For those unfamiliar with the work, it is a single-act (no break or intermission) approx. 1 1/2 hour tour de force for singers (particularly Elektra herself) and orchestra. The story concerns Elektra's hate for her mother and stepfather and quest for revenge. Prior to the opera, her mother, Klytemnestra and stepfather, Aegisth, had murdered her father, Agemmemnon. Every day Elektra invokes the spirit of Agemmemnon, a blood-curdling monologue, describing with jubilation the bloodshed that will take place when her exiled brother, Orestes returns to wreak vengeance on Klytemnestra and Aegisth. Elektra's sister, Chrysothemis, just wants to get out of there and lead a normal life, but Elektra's persistent threats and hatred have their mother so scared that she won't let either daughter free. Klytemnestra is beset by nightmares and general physical decay, as well as fear that Orestes will return. Elektra pretends to be, for a change, kind to her and acts as though she wants to help her find relief. She does this only long enough to gain Klytemnestra's trust, and then scares the hell out of her with an explicit description of what will happen to her when Orestes returns. At that point, word comes that Orestes has been killed, sending Klytemnestra into fits of laughter and leaving Elektra and Chrysothemis desolate. Elektra works on Chrysothemis to get her to help kill their mother and stepfather, but Chrysothemis retreats in horror. A stranger appears who turns out to be Orestes (the rumors of his death being greatly exaggerated). He duly slaughters Klytemnestra and Aegisth (off-stage shrieks and groans) after which Elektra does a jubilant dance and then, the resolution of her hatred leaving her nothing else to live for, drops dead. The orchestra, under Jeffrey Tate, sounded fabulous. I was very impressed with the overall cohesion of his reading and the clarity of his beat. Power was built up not by brute force but rather through textural clarity and beauty of sound. This was fully realized by the orchestra which was able to play with a unanimity and fullness that led to an overwhelming impact. If it seems strange to discuss the orchestra first in an opera performance, I (although trained as a singer) firmly believe that the orchestra and conductor provide the foundation of a performance. Good, but not great, singers with a great conductor and orchestra can provide, for me at least, a memorable experience that great singers with a mediocre conductor and orchestra cannot. This was the case, as the singers were good but not great. Janis Martin avoided hysteria in the title role, building an interpretation of great intensity and concentration. There were important things she couldn't do as a result of problems with handling her upper register. Strauss calculated many of the climactic moments based on the soprano's ability to hurl out a brilliant high note at the end of a long stretch of powerful singing over the enormous orchestra. Most of the time, these high notes emerged as indeterminately pitched screams which, in the case of the two high C's fell pathetically short of what was intended. Nonetheless, there were long stretches where her cool, clear sound projected great power and lyricism. Her recognition of her brother, her wild dances, and her death scene were done beautifully. Carol Neblett projected Chrysothemis' frustration and horror very well. The role lies very high, and, in contrast to Janis Martin, it was Neblett's top that projected most forcefully as it soared over the orchestra. Other than the top, her voice tends to be wooly and poorly focused, which made it impossible for her to project words clearly. She looked beautiful. Viorica Cortez looked, appropriately, like an old whore and projected decadence, malevolence, and also tremendous fatigue and dread. Her voice projected clearly at the low and high end, but got lost in the orchestra in the middle. Her words were, except for when she was covered by the orchestra, clearly and powerfully projected. The men, considerably smaller parts, were good. Dennis Bailey sang well and did a good job of portraying the character's neuroticism. Peter Wimberg sang and acted Orestes with considerable beauty and nobility. The costumes were wild, all of the women wearing body stockings with painted nipples to make them look bare-breasted. This didn't bother me, but I had several people in the audience commenting that they thought it was rather gross. I thought that the direction, by Regina Resnik (who used to be a wonderful Klytemnestra herself) was excellent - all of the moves made sense and everyone seemed to have a very clear grasp of the characters they were enacting. - Greg Paley