Description:

Conventional wisdom holds that Elektra is a role best reserved for dramatic sopranos nearing the end of their careers—those with the technical experience to survive it or the willingness to spend their remaining vocal capital. Inge Borkh defied that logic, virtually owning the role throughout the 1950s and 60s while still in her 30s. The result is an Elektra of searing intensity, driven by single-minded vengeance yet never stripped of her royal bearing. Borkh’s youthful timbre brings clarity and fire to the part, especially in her charged exchanges with Margarete Klose’s Klytämnestra.

Klose, for her part, brings a surprising maternal pathos to the role. Despite Klytämnestra’s monstrous crime, Klose’s portrayal adds a tragic weight that underscores the opera’s moral ambiguity. Ferdinand Frantz is a commanding and emotionally resonant Orest, and sharp ears will catch a young Christa Ludwig making an early impression as the First Maid.

The sound is very good. As a bonus, the final 30 minutes of a performance of Salome from the same year has been included, featuring Borkh and Klose, along with Ludwig Suthaus as Herod. The sound of the excerpt is less ideal, but it offers a fascinating postscript to the Elektra performance.

In Mono

OD 11349-2