Strauss' "Elektra" is undeniably an emotional roller coaster for audiences, the opera playing out without intermission for two straight hours. And while the Met's new production provided all the emotional firepower one might expect from this tumultuous tale, the Tuesday, April 26 performance added a surprising twist right off the bat.

An Awkward Beginning...

The late Patrice Chereau's production is an exquisite one, with a rather bare set at the core of the visual language. The walls are high around but the dull beige colors emphasize the empty lifestyle lived within the halls of the late Agamemnon's home. The Met audience is introduced to this set from the off, the lights in the auditorium fading to black before the curtain rises and showcases a number of servants cleaning around. One servant is scraping the staircase, the sound of the action grating against the audience's ears for several minutes. It builds up the tension, creating anticipation about when the fatal opening chords would pierce through the theater.

They eventually come when a door on stage right is opened, but when they did, something unusual happened. The first few phrases of the score were sung and soprano Nina Stemme seemed ready to burst out from stage right. But she backtracked almost immediately as the silence permeated the theater. The entire cast froze and turned toward the pit wondering where the orchestra had gone.

All they saw was darkness and a few moments later someone uttered "No light in the pit." A full reset of the opening scene ensued and the light eventually came on in the pit.

...Quickly Forgotten With Nuanced Production Coming to the Fore

The rest of the night was enthralling from start to finish with Chereau's production undeniably at the forefront of the success. This production is not necessarily a high concept one, but it allows the action to play out on stage with minimal interference. The use of characters on stage is well-directed, with the upper partition providing a clear delineation from Elektra's space among the servants downstage.

All the other major characters generally arrive from that upper partition with the sole exception of Elektra herself and later on Aegisth. Orest arrives from the side door, but his scene with Elektra has him upstage on the higher ground before engaging his sister below. It emphasizes Elektra's treatment and relegation within the household. By having all the characters meet at her level however, Chereau exposes their own base emotions as all the characters in this opera are potential or realized murderers in some way.

Whenever something prominent shifts in the visuals onstage, they have an powerful effect. Klytamnestra's arrival is preceded by the unraveling of a bright red carpet, undoubtedly a foreshadowing of her fate. When her corpse is revealed to her lover Aegisth, a plank pushes forward, the first time the set shifts from its original form. The lighting design by Dominique Bruguier is subtle but nuanced in its development from day into night, the latter portion ominous and mysterious in its look.

Stemme's Crazed Elektra Rivets

Elektra is considered one of the most demanding roles in the dramatic soprano repertoire. One can see why as the soprano must have the endurance for one and half hours of singing and acting. Elektra does not leave the stage once and from the moment she begins to sing, Strauss challenges her with numerous declamatory passages that use the soprano's lowest and highest range with abandon.

For this new production the Met has cast Nina Stemme, one of the leading dramatic sopranos our time. In January the soprano graced the Met stage for the first time since 2010 in a highly acclaimed "Turandot." Those performance showcased a soprano still in her prime but still lacked the compelling dramatic force that Stemme's Elektra has.

From the moment Stemme runs onto the stage, it is clear that this Elektra is completely disturbed and mad for vengeance. Her opening lines calling for her dead father Agamemnon were sung with tremendous vigor and this only intensified as she continuously shifted up to the higher registers of her voice. As her dynamic range increased, her physical movements also went from stillness to a raged dance. This was only the beginning to what would be an unpredictable night.

Stemme moved about the stage in rage, crawling like a serpent with a plan which was best exemplified in her confrontation with Klytamnestra. At the beginning of that scene Stemme's Elektra listens clearly to Klytemnestra as she tells of her nightmares. At one point Stemme hugs Waltraud Meier's Klytamnestra as to comfort her. But this quickly shifts into a vicious mockery and to an uncontrollable woman ready to attack her mother.

Even in her second scene with her sister Chrysothemis, Stemme's Elektra turned up her violent demeanor. She threw her sister to the ground attacking her in one of the most sexually charged moments of the night. At this moment Elektra attempted to force her sister into killing their mother.

Only when Orest (Eric Owens) arrived did this Elektra find some repose. During the famed Recognition Scene, Stemme's phrasing turned lyrical and her acting was also more controlled. There were no traces of the deranged woman. She caressed her brother in a comforting way that was not seen from any other interactions.

But this Elektra's madness was not complete until blood was shed and Stemme reveled in the murders of both Klytamnestra and Aegisth as she danced around in ecstasy. Her voice turned from dark coloring to one of rejoice. Her high notes beamed and penetrated the orchestra.

By the end of the performance the soprano obtained a deservedly standing ovation. One can only wait for Stemme's anticipated Isolde opening next season.

The Superstar Supporting Cast Delivers

The supporting cast was just as potent, all playing off of Stemme's visceral performance in different ways. As Chrysothemis, Adrianne PIeczonka seemed to give Stemme's Elektra a moral compass, but came off as far more malleable, particularly during the scene where Elektra tries to convince her sister to be her accomplice. Here Pieczonka's Chrysothemis looked on her raving sister with an anguished expression, but was ultimately powerless to overcome her. Contrast this with Waltraud Meier's cold Klytamnestra who towered over Elektra early on and looked down on her at several other points in their potent scene. Of course, Meier brought other dimensions to the character, at times her look betraying concern for her raving daughter, at other times intense fear and desperation when questioned about Orest's revenge.

Eric Owens' Orest comes out of nowhere, sitting like a statue all the way upstage and remaining in a fixed rigid position throughout his opening phrases. He retained a cool and collected disposition throughout, providing a tremendous contrast from the pain suffered by the female characters. While Orest is Elektra's ultimate savior, Owens portrayal made him a menace to this society, possibly the harbinger of justice, but also a destabilizing force that, on some level, lacked humanity.

Eka-Pekka Salonen's Fantastic Showing in the Pit

The entire cast received rapturous applause alongside conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen who really made the listener feel the weight and thickness of Strauss' orchestra at every turn. His conducting of the piece seemed to challenge the singers to pierce through the waves of sound, but that never seemed to trouble them. What it did was intensify an already riveting experience with a number of key moments putting the listener on edge.

Orest's entrance into the palace to murder his mother is accompanied by frenetic scales in the bass sections. The gradual crescendo of these long phrases added to the tremendous sense of anticipation with the Met Orchestra's players delivering every single note clearly.

The end of the opera, which features arguably the most lyrical writing in the work, soared, the high registers of the violin creating a spine-tingling effect.

Conclusion

The program tells you that this "Elektra" is two-hours long with no intermission, a daunting task for many new opera goers. But those hours fly by without you even feeling them. That is how fulfilling and immersive this new "Elektra" is with its fascinating production and virtuosic cast members.

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