Gladys Kuchta's Elektra is heard in several Opera Depot releases and deservedly so. She was an underrated singer who only got one studio recording (Fidelio with Julius Patzak). She didn't lack for work, but with the competition of Nilsson she wasn't truly appreciated either. Here she is 55 or nearly so and the voice has started to show some wear-and-tear. It's still steady; she has to work for the C's and a few top notes are a little under pitch. She sounds like she's tiring a bit before the end, but she's always in control.Irene Dalis' unique voice is heard as its finest. She makes Klytemnestra a true queen, despite her insecurities. She gets off some terrifying laughs too. Whoever does her offstage screams is too far away to be completely effective. Hillebrecht is good though she's never the powerhouse Rysanek was in this role. We're not given a complete cast list, but the Serving Maids are really good. Ludwig conducts a fiery performance.This sounds like a very good in-house recording. There are a few moments in the Elektra/Orestes scene where there is some sudden distortion and print-through. Fortunately, it is brief.Highly recommended, especially to fans of Dalis!

Gladys Kuchta held down the fort in much of the *Hochdrammatische* repertory during the heyday of Birgit Nilsson but never achieved the Swede's prominence. She was always reliable and often quite more. Such is the case with this Hamburg "Elektra." Her voice is of pulverizing weight, if not as attuned to verbal expression as Astrid Varnay's, which it much resembles (heavy, dark and somewhat metallic). She's streets ahead of Hildegard Hillebrecht, whose Chrysothemis offers most off-pitch yowling. Irene Dalis, by contrast, is an intelligent and sympathetic Klytaemnestra -- and a genuinely sung one. Theo Adam is heard to optimal effect as Orest and the sound is good mono, good enough that it's hard to tell if this came from broadcast or in-house sources. The excellence of the Hamburg State Opera forces can be felt in the smaller roles, like the estimable group of maids who open the opera. Opera Depot fills out the second disc with four excellent Irene Dalis solos.

Hard to hear performaces through muddy sound. Dalis is a fascinating, stoned, Clytamnestra. A rather original interpretation and she can deliver dialogue with a dramatic intensity that few can equal. Kuchta is a fascinating artist but not in her best voice.