Search - Richard [1] Strauss, Dimitri Mitropoulos, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra :: R. Strauss: Elektra

Sound 3 Stars - Performance 5

08/13/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Those who have suffered for years with a terrible sounding Everest LP set of this performance can now hear a little more of what they have been missing - Although the sonics are still far from ideal, this issue is at least fairly solid, and thankfully bereft of the wavery "under water" quality that made the LP issue such a trial.Mitropoulos was a great conductor in certain portions of the repertoire, and the thornier side of Strauss was evidently his vegetarian blue-plate special - He manages to supercharge the already loaded score in a way that simply seizes it (and the listener...) by the throat and never lets go.Della Casa was extremely gifted of voice, but here sounds quite passionately involved, while Borkh, probably best know in the states for her recording activity with Fritz Reiner in Strauss selections, in positively riveting. This is about the most intense performance of this already intense Strauss work that one can imagine."

Horrible sound, but good performance

Baker Sefton Peeples | Santa Cruz, CA United States | 01/10/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Mitropoulos must have been possessed when he conducted this Elektra preserved here...no other conductor has ever been more daring, intense, or, pardon me, BARBARIC with the score. This recording was taken in 1957 in Vienna, but even for a live performance at that time, the sound is ugly. It's hard to overlook, a shame for such an amazing performance.
Inge Borkh brings her expertise to the role of Elektra, but here she seems to scream the role rather than portray it, which she does incredibly on her album of excerpts from elektra and salome with fritz reiner and the Chicago symphony orchestra and on her complete recording with karl bohm. Nevertheless, she is riveting and animalistic...one can almost see her panting and digging wildly for the axe and anxiously waiting for orestes to kill Klytemnestra.
Lisa della Casa has never been a favorite of mine, and her voice I find shrill and like glass, ready to break at any minute. The recording quality doesn't help her at all either.
Jean Madeira as Klytemnestra is terrifying. Her timbre suits the role perfectly.
Kurt Bohme is Orest...a deep bass in a baritone role. It actually works to my great surprise. He's particularly terrifying when he gravely intones that Orest was dragged to death by his own horses...one almost believes him.
This recording deserves to be heard, though it is a pity that listening to it is an ordeal in itself, apart from this bid ordeal of an opera."

Great performance marred by bad sound

Christopher Forbes | Brooklyn,, NY | 07/29/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I never buy Opera D'Oro Cds with the idea that I'm going to get a great performance and great sound, but rarely has the difference been so marked as in this incindiary performance of Strauss' expressionist masterpiece. First the sound...it's excreble! This may be the worst sounding of all of my Opera D'Oro CDs. It sounds like it was recorded in a basement with an Edison cylinder. It drains all warmth out of Inge Bork's voice, and you loose many of the orchestral details so important to this opera. As such, this should not be your only recording of this opera. Make sure that you know it first through one of the many fine commercial CDs (I'm partial to the old Birgit Nillson recording, but I have a live one with Hidegard Behrens and Ozawa conducting that I like alot.) The good news is that this is a great performance, especially if you like Elektra done as a psychological mightmare. Mitropolis is brilliant. This is the kind of music that he was a master of. He conducts the score as if driven by demons (which he probably was). Inge Bork is fierce as Elektra. While she shows little warmth in the role, I find this works for me. I never have much sympathy for Elektra anyway, consumed as she is by her own obsessions. The secondary roles are also well sung, but the stars of this show are Bork and the conductor. So all-in-all, this is a great performance that almost makes up for the bad sound. Shouldn't be your only Elektra, but you should have it nontheless."