Above: Maestro Donald Runnicles
Saturday April 16th, 2022 matinee - Feeling no need to again see Patrice Chéreau's intimate staging of Strauss's ELEKTRA in the vast space of The Met, I took a score desk this afternoon to hear my 'second favorite' opera (my #1 opera remains the same composer's ARIADNE AUF NAXOS). While the Chéreau production is a misfit at The Met, it is fascinating to watch on DVD: look for it here.
Today, The Met Orchestra under the baton of Donald Runnicles was the main attraction. They played Strauss's astounding score for everything it's worth: from the massive onslaughts of sound to those spine-tingling subtleties that the composer introduces at just the right moments. For the most part, Maestro Runnicles maintained a perfect balance between the orchestra and the voices, though - inevitably in this gruesome score - there were times when the voices were covered; and that might be what Strauss wanted all along. Mr. Runnicles also did everything he could to support soprano Nina Stemme, who was announced to be experiencing the effects of "seasonal allergies".
If a singer needs to have an announcement made before the opera starts to the effect that she/he is suffering from some physical malady and asks our indulgence, this comes off as a cop-out. If said singer then goes on to give an abysmal performance, she/he has covered her/his ass, and the audience will be forgiving.
Today's pre-curtain announcement of Nina Stemme's allergy problem was not unexpected: she had been replaced (with success) by the debuting Rebecca Nash at the previous performance. But really, such announcements are unfair to the audience, who have paid good money to attend and who deserve to hear singers in their best of health. Ms. Stemme's struggle today was palpable, and disturbing to hear. To me, it seemed like a simple case of taking on a role that is beyond her present capabilities. Signs of her vocal decline were evident in her 2016 performances here as Turandot and Isolde, and now - nearing the age of 60 - she has even less to work with. The result this afternoon was singing that was painful to the ear.
Lise Davidsen was a thrilling Ariadne earlier this season, and her soaring top notes were amazing in the music of Chrysothemis today: high B-flat is definitely her "money note". But the rest of the voice is not all that alluring, as her Four Last Songs at the Met's Gala for Ukraine in March hinted at: the sound can get lumpy and inexpressive. I am wondering if she is really the new goddess of sopranos, or just another flash in the pan. Time will tell.
Overall, top honors today went to Michaela Schuster (above, in a Met Opera photo) for her vivid and subtle singing of Klytemnestra's music. The mezzo-soprano illuminated the terror and insinuation of the character's music with her great verbal clarity, making her long narrative the most engrossing scene in the opera.
Greer Grimsley's dark, growling sound was ominously powerful in the music of Orest; his "Laß den Orest..." was very impressive, and indeed it was he, rather than Ms. Stemme, who made the Recognition Scene - the heart of the opera - so riveting this afternoon.
Stefan Vinke did what he could with the brief, demanding, and thankless role of Aegisth. Harold Wilson made his mark as the Guardian, and the lively singing of Thomas Capobianco, set against the world-weariness of the inimitable Richard Bernstein, made the scene of the Young and Old Servants a perfect vignette.
Speaking of inimitable, Tichina Vaughn wonderfully chesty "Wo bleibt Elektra?" got the opera off to a perfect start. Her sister-Serving Women - Eve Gigliotti, Krysty Swann (interesting timbre indeed), and Alexandra Shiner - did much with their quick exchanges of lines. And the beloved Korean soprano Hei-Kyung Hong, as the valiant Fifth Maid who suffers a whipping for her brave defense of Elektra, sang poignantly, with a crystalline top note to climax the opera's opening scene.
Metropolitan Opera House
Saturday April 16th, 2022 ~ matinee
ELEKTRA
Richard Strauss
Elektra....................Nina Stemme
Chrysothemis...............Lise Davidsen
Klytämnestra...............Michaela Schuster
Orest......................Greer Grimsley
Aegisth....................Stefan Vinke
Overseer...................Alexandra LoBianco
Serving Woman..............Tichina Vaughn
Serving Woman..............Eve Gigliotti
Serving Woman..............Krysty Swann
Serving Woman..............Alexandria Shiner
Serving Woman..............Hei-Kyung Hong
Confidant..................Alexandra LoBianco
Trainbearer................Krysty Swann
Young Servant..............Thomas Capobianco
Old Servant................Richard Bernstein
Guardian...................Harold Wilson
Conductor..................Donald Runnicles
~ Oberon