COMPOSERS: R Strauss
LABELS: EMI
WORKS: Elektra
PERFORMER: Bavarian Radio SO/Swallisch
CATALOGUE NO: EMI 640 7792 (1990)
Wolfgang Sawallisch’s Munich Elektra (1990) reveals the fascinating detail of Strauss’s score without letting its frenetic quality become excessive. The women are particularly good: Eva Marton’s heavy duty soprano especially rich in lower colours in the title role; Cheryl Studer’s Chrysothemis light and fluttery; and Marjana Lipovsek’s Klytemnestra magnificently baleful. The men are impressive too, with Weikl supplying menacing presence as Orest, offset by Hermann Winkler’s effete Aegisth. George Hall