Strauss: Elektra / Alan Gilbert

Extremes at the Elbphilharmonie

»Noble simplicity and quiet grandeur«? Not at all! With their breathtaking opera shocker »Elektra«, Richard Strauss and his librettist Hugo von Hofmannsthal completely overturned the romanticised image of antiquity prevalent in the 18th century. Horror instead of humanism, revenge instead of glory, bloodshed instead of cultural blossoming: this one-act opera still leaves no one unmoved today. Strauss also went to extremes in every respect in the musical language with his mammoth orchestra. This is particularly impressive to experience when Alan Gilbert performs the work for the first time in the Grand Hall of the Elbphilharmonie. Following Ligeti’s »Le Grand Macabre«, Dvořák’s »Rusalka«, Gershwin’s »Porgy and Bess« and Berg’s »Wozzeck«, the chief conductor of the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra and the Royal Opera in Stockholm continues his series of enthusiastically acclaimed performances of concert operas on the River Elbe.