Elektra

The Concert Hall of the Opera House was reconfigured for this hotly anticipated performance. Roughly double its normal size, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra was placed in the first few rows of the stalls, bringing the audience almost into direct contact with the musicians. Selected dancers from the Sydney Dance Company performed on a shiny raised black platform that was on the Concert Hall stage. At times, the lighting was shadowy and dramatic red or golden to great effect .

The Sydney Symphony Orchestra played superbly under the dynamic, fluent baton of maestro David Robertson.

Tempestuous and spiky, Strauss’s opera offered an extremely intense, expressionist and modernist retelling of the Greek story in which The House of Atreus is in crisis. Elektra wants to murder her mother Clytemnestra, who killed her husband, Agamemnon, for sacrificing their daughter Iphigenia. The piece has a reputation for allowing the orchestra to overwhelm and drown out the singers. But such was not the case on this occasion.

In the title role of Elektra, guest American soprano, Christine Goerke, was astonishing, giving a breathtaking performance of chilling intensity. Her summoning of Agamemnon’s ghost in an early aria was very powerful. With her rich, towering sound, Goerke was full of intense and dramatic depth, presenting a dark and extremely intense hypnotic presence.

Cheryl Barker as Chrysothemis, Elektra and Orestes’ sister, gave a lush, fabulous performance, a magnificent foil to Goerke. Barker offered a different projection, with an earthier tone and more mellow warmth. Brow-beaten by Clytemnestra and Aegisthus, longing for some semblance of normality, she sought a ‘woman’s destiny’ – to marry  and have children. Her huge, extended aria was ravishingly sung.

 Lisa Gasteen was regal and sang superbly as cold, commanding Clytemnestra, nearly driven mad by haunting dreams and insomnia. The angry duet where she pleaded with Elektra to reveal what rites and sacrifices must be performed was chilling and magnificently done. Peter Coleman Wright as Orestes was fabulous – wary and tormented, driven to revenge. He gave a thrilling, multi-layered performance. Similarly, Kim Begley as Aegisthus was terrific; his drunken entrance very effectively staged and he was in fine voice as the ostentatious monarch.  

All smaller roles were superbly performed and luxuriously cast. The five maids were excellent and Warwick Fyfe stole a few great lines. 

The Sydney Dance Company were slightly less impressive. While the dancing itself was wonderful and technically fantastic, it was also at times rather distracting and superfluous. The organising concept was excellent and the performers were distinguished in trying to exemplify the swirling hidden tsunamis of emotions. But it somehow just missed the mark. Lake’s intriguing choreography – possibly somewhat Cunningham in style – was angular and sculptural and included some rolling, writhing floorwork .  

Special mention must be made of the Sydney Philharmonia Choir who sang from behind the audience in all corners of the auditorium in a short blaze of exultation.         

A shattering, intense musical experience. The ecstatic, tumultuous standing ovation at the end was more than deserved.  

Rating: 4 ½ out of 5 stars 

Sydney Opera House, Bennelong Point
www.sydneysymphony.com
22 and 24 February