(This article first appeared on Oberon’s Grove in 2017.)
(Click on the above cast page for a better view!)
On April 8, 1994 I attended a performance of ELEKTRA at the Met. It somehow seemed to me to be the final vestige of the last golden age in that theatre which had continued from the mid-Bing years through the 1980s {with some decrease in splendour} to this night when two of the greatest divas I ever experienced shared the stage on an evening when the atmosphere in the house made me think back to they heyday of Nilsson, Corelli, Tebaldi, Tucker and Caballe. Dame Gwyneth Jones and Leonie Rysanek as Elektra and Klytamnestra reminded us of the rare emotional power great voices can generate. It was a night when the mammouth ovations of the past were recalled as the audience went into a delirium saluting the singers and Maestro James Levine.
This is what I wrote in my diary about an hour after the performance:
“…a magnificent evening, reminiscent of the kind of excitement we knew 25 years ago. The opera is almost unbearably beautiful and Levine and the orchestra were at full sail, alternating monstrous thunderbolts of sound with lyric passages of exquisite clarity. The set and lighting are ideal and I am happy to say that the stage direction has been altered so that now the Old Servant approaches and kneels before Orest, just before the recognition…
The cast, right down to the train-bearer and confidante (wonderfully coddling of Rysanek) were deeply involved and the vocalism had the scale and intensity needed at every point so that I was thoroughly involved in the drama at every moment. James Courtney, Philip Creech and Raymond Aceto gave strong portrayals in the vocally brief but important roles of the Guardian and the Young and Old Servants respectively. The maids were excellent: Shaulis was notable and Theresa Cincione a strongly sung 5th Maid. Susan Neves made a massive, big-voiced Overseer. James King repeated his matchless, blustering Aegisthus amd Jan-Hendrik Rootering was again the hulking, voicey Orest – a veritable tower as he finally held his sister in his arms.
The women were sensational: Deborah Voigt was really ‘on’ vocally, soaring over the orchestra with her rich, warm sound. She tries hard to be an actress but with the likes of Jones and Rysanek onstage she is outclassed histrionically. Vocally, she fully held her own which, in this company, is high praise.
Leonie Rysanek was just shattering as Klytamnestra; she eschewed the campy or grotesque elements some other singers have shown in their portrayals. Rysanek strives to hold onto her dignity right to the edge as Elektra seems to gain the upper hand. A whispered message from the confidante and the tables are turned: Rysanek reenters the palace as a Queen, momentarily triumphant as she heads to her doom. Rysanek has always lived her roles to the core and if anything she is more intense now than ever. The voice sounds astonishingly powerful, like she could go on for another ten years at least. Aside from the customary Rysanek power, there were ravishing piano passages supported to perfection by Levine. It was wonderful to see this beloved soprano – MY diva! – and it was a portrayal to cherish. Bravissima!
Dame Gwyneth Jones surpassed my very highest expectations as Elektra; I expected to be THRILLED but the vocal thrust, the house-filling power, the overflowing femininity and the sheer beauty of this woman made for an evening of endless magnificence. She looked incredible, very slender and wearing a long dark wig which set off the pale complexion and luminous eyes; one doesn’t think of Elektra as being a beauty, but tonight she truly was. Jones hurled out her first ‘Allein!’ and the house seemed to shudder at the sound of her voice. All night she just poured the tone out, very little in the way of wobble: just big, rich, glorious sound!
Levine would drive the orchestra to a frenzy and the trumpets would blaze out and then, coming over it all like strokes of lightning, the Jones voice would soar up to the heavens. Impossible to believe that anyone mortal could produce these glistening walls of sound. I cannot single out the most exciting moments of her portrayal because there was not a moment’s respite all night: the voice soaring, the actress unstinting in her physical response to the drama. The great scene with Rysanek was as fascinating to watch as to hear as the two great divas traded phrases, trumping one another. Who knows from what depths Dame Gwyneth summoned her astounding cry of ‘Orest!’ when it finally dawned on her exactly who this stranger was; she shuddered violently and seemed on the verge of collapse. And in the stillness which follows the unbearable intensity of the moment of recognition – as it sinks into Elektra that her brother is indeed there with her – Jones sang with such tender beauty as tears glistened on her cheeks…wondrous! Dame Gwyneth played Elektra bare-footed and her feet seemed to start the dance of their own free will. If I say that vocally she equaled her perfect first Met RING – one of my greatest memories – that says it all. There have been some big, thrilling voices at the Met over the years but I do think Dame Gwyneth is the all-time winner in terms of the sheer scope of delivery…magnificent!
Huge ovations, the divas and Levine were all cheered with great warmth. There were many bows and then they had to raise the drop curtain and there were many more. The ‘good old days’ came clearly to mind as the crowd gathered at the orchestra railing and there were frenzied screams into a state of hoarseness and the long-forgotten burning sensations in the hands as the celebration went on and on.
For the first time in years, a performance moved me to go to the stage door and attempt to express my gratitude to the singers. I met Rootering, Voigt (lovely eyes), Rysanek (so diminutive and full of life) and the gorgeous Dame Gwyneth. It was great to feel really involved again and fun hanging out with the fans, some of whom I remembered from a quarter-century ago. Among the latter was Z, the first boy I’d loved…and the first to break my heart. I had not seen him for over a decade. We shook hands as the memories flashed thru my mind.
Such a great evening – but a real ‘end of an era’ feeling also!”
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