Organization

Conductor

Ulf Schirmer

Singer

Mezzo-soprano

Violeta Urmana

Klytaemnestra

Soprano

Allison Oakes

Chrysothemis

Kristina Häger

The trainbearer

Irene Roberts

Second maid

Catherine Foster

Electra

Tanja Ariane Baumgartner

Flurina Stucki

Tenor

Clemens Bieber

Aegisth

Baritone

Tobias Kehrer

Orest

Bass

Tyler Zimmerman

Orest's tutor

Gina Perregrino

The confidante

Antonia Kim

Patrick Cook

A young servant

Stephen Bronk

An old servant

Contralto

Annika Schlicht

First maid

Karis Tucker

Arianna Manganello

Third maid

Lexi Hutton

Fourth maid

Valeriia Savinskaia

Fifth maid

Stage director

Kirsten Harms

Juraj Valčuha

Costume designer

Bernd Damovsky

Set designer

Choreographer

Silvana Schröder

Chorus master

Jeremy Bines

Kirsi Tiihonen

The overseer

Deutsche Oper Berlin

Orchestra

Orchester der Deutschen Oper Berlin

Others

Choir of the Deutsche Oper Berlin

Ballet

Opera Ballet of the Deutsche Oper Berlin

German

Elektra -  (Electra)

Berlin

Germany

Poster

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English

Approved

In a backyard shaft of the Mycenaean backyard palace, maids speak contemptuously about Elektra; she cannot get over the murder of her father Agamemnon, revenge her only desire. Only the youngest of the maids shows pity for her and is therefore punished. Elektra longs for the moment of vengeance, which she firmly believes will be carried out by her distant brother Orestes. Her sister Chrysothemis can hardly bear the existence of Electra and tries to protect her from her mother, who is up to something terrible. She wants to leave this terrible place with her to live in freedom. Her mother, Klytemnestra, has been tormented by nightmares since her husband was murdered and asks her daughter Elektra for help. During the conversation, a rapprochement between the two women seems possible; but when Klytemnestra apparently lies to her daughter about the whereabouts of her son Orestes, Electra's hatred breaks out again. The ambiguous answer to Clytemnestra's question about the remedy for the tormenting fears: You will no longer dream once the right sacrificial animal has fallen under the ax. Two strangers have come to report the death of Electra's brother Orestes. Elektra finally wants to commit the deed together with Chrysothemis. But she doesn't see herself in a position to do so. Determined to seek revenge, Elektra decides: "Well then, alone!" One of the strangers approaches her; dismayed by Electra's physical and mental state, he reveals himself: Orestes. He takes action - the death screams of Klytämnestra penetrate from within to the outside. Then Elektra lures Aegisth into the palace, where he too is killed by Orestes. Agamemnon is avenged. Nevertheless, Elektra remains unredeemed in the palace and dances herself to death.

“With all the dimensions of the score, ELEKTRA is a chamber play. My aim is not to create images of horror, but to make the horror vacui that people live in tangible. The line between passion and obsession is dangerously fluid. We experience this every day in world politics and in everyday life. What touches me about Elektra is the inability to mourn. She has forbidden herself to mourn and designed her life in such a way that no more mourning work can take place. Deep and existential feelings like pain need an outlet. Those who can grieve don't have to hate. The shocking thing about ELEKTRA is the devastating proportions that unquestionable behavior patterns can assume. Chrysothemis knows about the way out of the spiral of violence, but she cannot assert herself against her sister and free her from her mental imprisonment.

Electra by Strauss, From (2022/2022), Directed by Kirsten Harms,, Conductor Ulf Schirmer, Juraj Valčuha, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Berlin, Germany

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