Kyle Ketelsen (Orest) and Elena Pankratova (Elektra)
Photo: Cory Weaver, courtesy of San Francisco Opera
Richard Strauss's Elektra is back at San Francisco Opera, in Keith Warner's idiosyncratic, yet fascinating and insightful, production that sets the opera in a museum and explores family trauma. Okay, yes, that's built into the story, but he takes it a few steps further, relating a modern woman's family trauma to what happened in the House of Atreus. Let me note that composer Anne Hege, whose first laptopera, The Furies, is based on the Elektra story, is giving the pre-performance talks; I attended and I was glad that I did.
This Elektra is among my favorite productions ever, and also one of the greatest and most interesting productions I've ever seen. It was first done at the company in 2017; I think that the blocking has changed very little since then, but note that I didn't visit the SF Opera Archive to take a look at video from the first bring-up. I will admit to missing Christine Goerke, a favorite singer, in the title role.
Elektra is a truly cathartic work, and so well done that I was holding back tears at both the final dress rehearsal and the first performance.
Eun Sun Kim's conducting is utterly masterful from beginning to end. About my one complaint about 2017 was that I felt Henrik Nánási, excellent in everything else, was kind of slack in the first half-hour, only catching fire around Klytemnestra's entrance. Kim is incendiary and the orchestra magnificent from the first downbeat. It is amazing to hear what she can do with an orchestra.
At various times in the last year the thought "Wow, Eun Sun Kim was such a great hire" has run through my head, and this is more evidence that she was the right conductor for SFO. Somehow they found a music director who turns out to be outstanding in the Runnicles lane of gigantic German works. I can't wait for Der Ring des Nibelungen, coming in two years.
- Lisa Hirsch, SFCV / Chronicle
- Joshua Kosman, On a Pacific Aisle.100% agreement with his comments on Christine Goerke.
- Gabe Meline, KQED. He's not wrong about the orchestra's starring role!
- Harvey Steiman, Seen & Heard International
- Charlise Tiee, Opera Tattler
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