ELEKTRA

The great singing actress Nina Stemme gives a heart-wrenching performance in the title role of Strauss’s blazing one-act drama

Strauss’s blazing tragedy about an ancient Greek princess hell-bent on revenge comes to the Met in the final opera production by the legendary director Patrice Chéreau. As the New York Times put it, nothing prepares the audience for the “seething intensity, psychological insight and sheer theatrical inventiveness of this production”. Esa-Pekka Salonen conducts an extraordinary cast headed by Nina Stemme as the obsessed and bloodthirsty title character. “To call her merely magnetic would be rude, also silly”, hailed the Financial Times. Waltraud Meier sings Klytämnestra, with Adrianne Pieczonka as Chrysothemis, and Eric Owens as Orest.

“Chéreau conjures the kind of lethal claustrophobia that Quentin Tarantino can only dream of…” (New York Magazine)

“Esa-Pekka Salonen sustained propulsion without overpowering the voices, yet reminded us that Strauss's massive orchestra is a constant central force.” (Financial Times)