Search - Richard Strauss, Wiener Philharmoniker, Giuseppe Sinopoli :: Strauss: Elektra

A fresh look

Johnno | Australia | 02/02/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Having worn out the vinyl pressing I had of the Solti/Nilsson version which I have always thought was magnificent, I was hard pushed to decide whether to get that version on cd or try something new.

Having read reviews and listened to excerpts here I decided to take a risk and order this one, knowing how much I loved the Solti version with its huge sound, and Nilsson's powerful voice, which I was able to experience singing this role in the theatre a number of times.

As soon as I started to listen to this recording I felt a freshness, almost as though coming to the opera for the first time again, Sinopoli's account is high on detail and his tempi quite different from Solti, and it was entrancing.

Full marks also go to the cast, Ms Marc providing an excellent portrayal of the title role, which I didn't think could be bettered after Ms Nilssons recording. Of course the laser-like voice of Birgit Nilsson is unique to her, and suited works scored for a huge orchestra, but I found it easier to understand the words sung by the cast on this recording, all performances and characterisations are excellent, and there is no shortage of sonic orchestral depth and excitement.

I still love the Solti version, but wouldn't part with this recording ever."

Not sure....

Rich | United Kingdom | 09/25/2003

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I've had this set for over 12 months and have hesitated from reviewing it before. Having come to this performance from Solti's recording of the same opera with Nilsson, I was initially disappointed. Parts of it are terrific, superb and just plain gorgeous and other parts have you wondering what went wrong. I really wanted to like this performance, having enjoyed Sinopoli's 'Salome' recording. Like the reviewer below, I have to take one star off automatically for the savage cuts in the score. There is absolutely no excuse for having these cuts in a studio performance. Solti's set has the score given in full. Alessandra Marc, the Elektra in Sinopoli's set, is a singer I'd not heard before. I'm not sure if I like her voice or not. It's not really beautiful and has a weird sort of vibrato. Also, she can't pronounce vowels for some reason so many of the words sound the same. Perhaps the most distracting element of her singing is the way she swoops up to a high note from a lower note (her cry of 'Sei verflucht!' is revolting). The voice often sounds ungainly and plain ugly, especially after the piercing exactitude and clarity of Nilsson for Solti. Where Marc scores over Nilsson is in the quiet parts of the role: for example, throughtout the long scene with Orestes (also cut) and especially during the scene with Aegisthus. Marc is much more coy and seductive here than Nilsson. Marc's protrayal of Elektra can by no means be called an unqualified success but there's enough in it to keep this listener returning to her interpretation. As has been stated below, the best reason for buying this set is Sinopoli's explosive, majestic rendering of the score. It all sounds quite magnificent, much more subtle than Solti. The whole thing is utterly gorgeous from beginning to end. Like Marc, Sinopoli is especially good during the Aegisthus scene where the music dances along in a quite bewitching manner, far better than Solti. The mad, psychotic waltz at the conclusion is superb: a genuine conclusion to the opera. The other cast members are good, if not quite as convincing as in Solti's earlier set. Schwarz as Clytemnestra can't really come close to Resnik but Voigt makes a decent Chrysothemis. The guys do a good enough job. I can't stand Solti's Stolze as a singer, so having Siegfried Jerusalem here as Aegisthus was a blessing. The VPO play with their customary brilliance and warmth and the recorded sound is astounding (although when listening on headphones I could detect a distracting 'squeak' occasionally, like a wheel that needed oiling, especially during Voigt's early scene).
I wouldn't want to be without the Solti set, especially for Nilsson's psycho-performance which is quite astonishing, but Sinopoli's set, if you give it time to work on you, does offer a different, but no less enjoyable, sort of experience."

Flawed but fascinating

Ed Beveridge | London, England | 10/18/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I sometimes think that the perfect recording is only achievable by taking bits of all the very good recordings you know and mixing them together. That is my feeling about Elektra. I have long enjoyed Sawallisch's recording with Eva Marton like a vocal battleship out of control, Studer as a perfect Chrysothemnis and Lipovsek as a truly ghastly Klytemnestra. But then what of Nilsson's superhuman princess? Or Polaski's touching account? And Rysanek's searing Chrysothemnis? And Ludwig's perfect Klytemnestra? And so it goes on.This recording looks interesting on papaer and so it proves. Alessandra Marc was surprisingly cast as Elektra and it took me time to warm to her. The voice is large yet eerily pure and warm. None of the wide vibrato of other exponents but also less of the brilliance. Those cruel top notes are never quite shrill nor effortful but they certainly cleave the air with some considerable force. She isn't the psychopath that others have been, and she commands great vulnerability and warmth at the key moments with her siblings. I must admit, I find her ever more involving every time I hear her in this role.Indeed, the rest of the cast are a bit pallid next to her. Voigt is overwrought but tamer than others, though her gorgeous vocal performance is treasurable - I think she would make a far greater impact in the theatre where the full power of her voice would be heard. Hanna Schwarz is almost understated as Klytemnestra - no cackling, yodelling, whooping or yelling, but a true and subtle rendition of what Strauss wrote - and chilling for it. Ramey is solid and dependable, though lacks a truly germanic blackness to his voice, whilst Jerusalem is luxury in Aegisth's brief outbursts. The supporting roles are satisfactory, no more.Sinopoli's playing of the score is like no other - slow, analytical, understated, yet with a really impressive grasp of the sweep of this hundred-minute hurtle into the abyss. He never lets himself get carried away by the irresistible dance rhythms, but gives Strauss's creepy orchestral scenery plenty of space to make its points. All in all, it's a masterly achievement and if you're willing to work with it it pays great dividends, even if it isn't as immediately impressive as other recordings have been."