It may at first seem odd that a recording of
Strauss' Elektra should feature on the front cover the name and the photograph of the conductor and not of the soprano in the title role. And, after listening to the recording, it may seem odder still. This is not to say that conductor
Semyon Bychkov isn't a superlative
Strauss conductor. He most surely is. The way he shapes the sonorities into glowing bands, the way he balances the lines into brilliant colors, the way he drives the tempos from climax to orgasmic climax: these are the hallmarks of a great
Strauss conductor. Nor is this to say that the WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln is not a more than a capable
Strauss orchestra. It most surely is. Although it lacks a distinctive
Strauss sound like, say, the
Vienna Philharmonic or the
Dresden Staatskapelle, the Köln orchestra still performs with enormous energy and tremendous virtuosity.
This is to say that with American soprano
Deborah Polaski in the title role, the conductor along with everyone on-stage better watch themselves. Here is an Elektra who will not stop until she completely, totally, and utterly dominates the production. This is not to say that
Polaski is not a team player. She allows
Bychkov to manage the orchestra and the drama just as she allows the magnificently frightening
Felicity Palmer as Klytämnestra, the tenderly foolish
Anne Schwanewilms as Chrysothemis, and the heroically stolid
Franz Grundheber as Orest to have their moments in the spotlight. But when she's on-stage -- and she's almost always on-stage --
Polaski dominates.
It's not just
Polaski's amazing technical control, her astonishingly powerful upper range, and her absolutely astounding stamina. It's her stunning acting in the title role. Most listeners are used to Elektra sung as a mad woman, that is, with little nuance and less subtlety but lots and lots of volume in compensation.
Polaski, however, sings Elektra as a woman gone mad but who knows all too well what pushed her over the edge and into the abyss, thereby infusing the character with a humanity that makes her tragedy all the more compelling. With plenty of detail but too little atmosphere, Hänssler's sound is clear but perhaps a bit too clean.