Strauss: Elektra - Schlüter, Kupper, Hammer, Markwort, Hager, Neidlinger; Jochum. Hamburg, 1944

$5.37

Listen to a Sample:

It's fun to consider that at the time of this recording, Richard Strauss was still very much a "contemporary" composer. And although Elektra had been around for a couple of decades, one gets the sense, thanks to the masterful conducting courtesy of Eugen Jochum, that the ink was not at all dry. There is a vitality to the interpretation and it is free of the traditions that have ossified into most performances of Elektra one hears these days. I also appreciated that a number of the standard cuts were opened.
Erna Schlüter is a power-house in the title role, excelling equally in the dramatic moments as well as the delicate passages. Listen to the sample below and marvel at her breath-control. It would rival the greatest Norma.