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Elektra

Published Monday 10 November 2008 at 10:20 by George Hall

Susan Bullock returns to the Royal Opera in a major dramatic soprano assignment and carries all before her. Her presentation of Strauss’ disturbed heroine manages the feat of delivering all the vocal heft while remaining beautifully sung throughout. Dramatically, she is focused and intelligent in what proves a potent realisation of the part. At the end, the audience fete her like a queen.

Some of what surrounds her is more mixed. Anne Schwanewilms’ Chrysothemis comes and goes vocally and doesn’t quite hit the dramatic spot. Jane Henschel’s Klytemnestra begins like a pantomime dame and though she has some memorable moments - her excessive laughter on learning of her son’s death is certainly notable - cannot supply the vocal guns to match Bullock in their big scene together. But Johan Reuter makes a vocally bracing Orestes, creating a palpable sense of expectancy in the great recognition scene.

The small parts are all decently done, but while Alfie Boe does everything required of the Young Servant, it is hard to understand why the ROH cannot offer this talented artist a better role than this.

Charles Edwards’s partly self-designed production leaves a mixed impression, with the final scene a fiery bloodbath that diverts attention from the protagonist. Conductor Mark Elder draws excellent playing from the orchestra and displays much of the great score to its advantage without managing to create an arc of consistently rising tension.

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