Richard Strauss

Last production staged by Patrice Chéreau, this Elektra will remain as the main and most striking lyrical event of these last years in Aix-en-Provence. This production is leaded by three amazing singers: the German soprano Evelyn Herlitzius gave a tremendous, never-to-be-forgotten account of the title role, Waltraud Meier portrays a human and chilling Clytemnestra and Adrianne Pieczonka is a fantastic Chrysothemis. Everyone's loneliness and intimate struggles are Patrice Chéreau's favorites theatrical themes. With Esa-Pekka Salonen conducting the Orchestre de Paris, this production of Elektra becomes an unforgettable experience.

Recorded at the Vienna State Opera house in 1989, this staging of Richard Strauss and Hugo von Hofmannsthal’s Elektra is one of the glories of live opera on film, deserving of eternal availability. The DVD picture has great clarity, despite the darkness of Hans Schavernoch’s set design. Other than the cliché of a huge statue head, toppled on its side, the set manages to be suitably representative of a decaying palace as well as an imposing, theatrical space, dominated by the mammoth body of the statue from which the head apparently dropped, draped with the ropes that seem to have enabled the decapitation. Sooner or later most of the characters cling to and twist around those ropes, an apt stage metaphor for the remorseless repercussions from the murder of Agammenon by his unfaithful wife Klytämnestra and her paramour, Aegisthus. Reinhard Heinrich’s costumes capture a distant era while sustaining a creepily modern look — part Goth, part homeless, part Spa-wear.

When the curtain fell at the Paris Opera premiere of Capriccio, the audiences rose to long and frenetic ovations. They unanimously applauded each singer in a cast of stars, but Renée Fleming was undoubtedly the leading light of this remarkable production. Every one of the performers in this production is outstanding and can be regarded as the best possible singer for the role - Opera fans from all over the world came to Paris to see this production. This Capriccio also served as a role debut for American star soprano Renée Fleming who took on the role of the Gräfin. The critics celebrated her performance as “ideal” in all aspects: musically, dramatically and above all vocally and she was cheered frenetically by the audience at the Palais Garnier of the Opéra National de Paris.

Teresa Stratas has been called the world's greatest living singing actress, and she is seen and heard at the peak of her powers in the title role of director Götz Friedrich's spine-chilling version of Salome. on of the most highly acclaimed opera films ever made - with Strauss's score in the expert hands of his protégé Karl Böhm, conducting the Vienna Philharmonic.

This performance of Strauss' opera Salome, recorded in London, but based on an earlier performance at the Salzburg Festival, could be the perfect Salome on DVD for several years to come. In the first place the casting is superb. Malfitano and Terfel as Salome and Jokanaan are not to be surpassed in the next years. Malfitano does the Dance of the Seven Veils herself, which gives the performance an extra thrill. Herod is good too and as a bonus we see Anja Silja as Herodias, a well-known Salome herself in her younger days.

Die schweigsame Frau was first presented in 1935; Hitler and Goebbels refused to attend because Stefan Zweig, the librettist, was a Jew and Strauss had restored his name to the program after the Nazis had insisted it be removed. It was a great success but was withdrawn for obvious reasons after three performances. It was not played again until 1946.

Josephs Legende (1912-14), die Partitur für Ballett von Richard Strauss, ist eines der reiferen Werke von Strauss, das selbst nach so langer Zeit bisher nur wenig Beachtung fand. Es wird nicht aufgeführt (möglicherweise wegen seines mysteriösen Themas) und nur selten aufgezeichnet. Der Katalog verzeichnet eine vollständige, inzwischen bereits vergriffene Interpretation, und eine Version der kürzeren Orchestersuite (1947), von der es bei Chandos 9506 eine ausgezeichnete Version gibt.

Am 14. Januar 1966 befand sich New York, unter einer Schneedecke, fest im Griff von Minus-Temperaturen. Doch als Elisabeth Schwarzkopf die Columbia-Studios betrat, um mit Glenn Gould Lieder von Richard Strauss aufzunehmen, war es nicht etwa nur mollig warm, es muss eine Bullenhitze geherrscht haben. Der dauerfröstelnde Kanadier Gould hatte die Thermostate aufdrehen lassen – und daran sollte sich zum Leidwesen der Stimmbänder der Schwarzkopf nichts ändern. So hört man die Sopranistin immer wieder mal kräftig durchkeuchen, mit den Worten „I´m full of Schleim!“

Few singers have fused words and music as eloquently as Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, and few sopranos have proved more radiant in Strauss. All this makes her the ideal protagonist in the composer’s final opera, his ingenious and engaging ‘conversation piece’ on artistic themes. Schwarzkopf is joined by a cast of superlative stature and style and by a conductor intimately identified with the works of Strauss, Wolfgang Sawallisch.