Elektra

by Lou Camp

The Academy of Vocal Arts on Spruce Street has the effrontery to put on Elektra, that scandalous, degenerate opera by Richard Strauss, which once every decade is denounced as a period piece, without merit, and a "cheap little shocker," in the words of an eminent critic of the 1950s. But for some reason it keeps showing up to acclaim. The reason is that it is a masterpiece of subtle psychological power, with overwhelming musical merit. Get used to it.

This production is presented in a piano reduction, which on opening night was deftly handled by Luke Housner. Of course, minus Strauss' astounding orchestral score, much is missing, such as the scary thumping of the side drum and the extreme demands on the brass. Nevertheless, much comes clear: certainly the melodies, which can be swamped in the orchestral haze, and the greater clarity of the language, which explains Elektra's revenge against her mother, Klytämnestra, who killed Elektra's father, Agamemnon, and was sleeping with Aegisth. The excellent overhead English supertitles helped those with little or no knowledge of German.

On opening night Elektra cleared the boards. Othalie Graham was just overwhelming -- a force of nature. Not once did she fail to rise to the oncoming climaxes, and sustained, in Strauss' words, "the tremendous increase in musical tension to the very end." Dressed in raggedy black, she was huge, obsessive, mad and clearly of dreadful purpose. Her delicate little sister, Chrysothemis, sung by Rebecca Carr, dressed in virginal white, was equally secure of voice, but, as her role demanded, much less sure of vengeful conviction.

All the others were superb, if overshadowed by the extraordinary art of Ms. Graham. The Klyt…mnestra of Nicole Piccolomini was hampered by the addition of a cane, which made her look old and infirm, rather than oily and perverse. Her lurid companions stood by rather like two plain old degenerates. The Orest of Burak Bilgili was in good voice and properly operatic.

The libretto, one of Hugo von Hofmannsthal's masterpieces, is based on the play of Electra by Sophocles, and it is the only opera that Strauss wrote based on a Greek tragedy. It came out in 1909, four years after that other outrage, Salome, and was succeeded in two years by that return to sanity, Der Rosenkavalier.

ELEKTRA

Through March 8, Academy of Vocal Arts, 1920 Spruce St., 215-735-1685.

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