Obsession: The great Greek playwrights often used it as the driving force in their dramas. Their central characters are usually driven by some key goal from which they won’t be dissuaded. And few are more obsessed than Elektra.
Vengeance is her driving force. Her father has been murdered by her mother and her mother’s lover, and Elektra will not be satisfied until they suffer the same fate. When you consider that her father’s murder was similarly inspired by a desire for payback, it’s clear that Sophocles is saying something about the misconception that revenge is sweet. It’s more like the tragedy that keeps on giving.
Composer Richard Strauss chose this tale as the topic of his 1909 opera, “Elektra.” With the help of librettist Hugo von Hoffmannsthal, Strauss imagined what the title character’s state of mind and heart must have been like between her father’s murder and the time when a plot for revenge is hatched. This very troubled woman is being driven mad by her obsession, and we are privy to how it affects her relationships with all around her.
Minnesota Opera opened its 2019-20 season at St. Paul’s Ordway Music Theater on Saturday night with a production of Strauss’ “Elektra” that was among the most imaginative stagings I’ve encountered from this company over the decades. Director Brian Staufenbiel and his design team have created a scenario in which German filmmaker Fritz Lang is on the set of a silent-film adaptation of the tragedy. As cameras and set pieces roll in and out, we witness the Minnesota Opera cast portraying performers presenting Strauss’ opera, the finished product of the silent film they’re creating periodically screened above them.
It may sound complicated, but I found it a very intriguing approach to an opera that can be relentlessly bleak if stripped down to its essentials. And the execution of this ambitious vision was impeccable on Saturday, not only in the voices and portrayals of all the characters, but in the playing of the 87-piece onstage orchestra, which produced an unimpeded flow of music throughout 100 intermission-less minutes.
The score of 1909’s “Elektra” might be Strauss’ deepest dive into modernism before moving back toward neo-romanticism with “Der Rosenkavalier.” Hence, there are moments of dissonance (it even features something that music historians call “the Elektra chord” because no one had ever done it before), but there’s also some lush and lovely orchestration that sounded great under the energetic direction of German conductor Elias Grandy.
The title role is a grand opportunity for a tour de force performance, and soprano Sabine Hogrefe delivered one on opening night. While her acting is more subdued than the wild-eyed portrayals many have brought to this role, her vocal interpretation was often breathtaking, scaling the peaks and valleys of her wide-ranging lines with consistent control, awe-inspiring intensity and sometimes scintillating softness. (Alexandra Loutsion will sing the role at Tuesday’s and Sunday’s performances.)
“Elektra” is the rare opera in which almost every role of any substance is sung by a woman. The action is driven by conversations between Elektra and her younger sister — Marcy Stonikas makes Chrysothemis an arresting force to be reckoned with, her passionate lines powerfully rendered — and with her murderous mother, Klytamnestra, sung with convincing vulnerability by Jill Grove. As the lone male lead, Craig Irvin brings charisma and pure voice to Elektra’s brother, Orest.
Strauss also allows brief star turns for multiple women, and the “maidservants” take full advantage with absorbing solos, underlining that, although composed by a man, this is truly a woman-powered opera.
IF YOU GO
What: Minnesota Opera’s “Elektra”
When: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday
Where: Ordway Music Theater, 345 Washington St., St. Paul
Tickets: $200-$25, available at 612-333-6669 or mnopera.org
Capsule: An opera of obsession gets a richly imaginative staging.
