A Note on Opera: Richard Strauss’s “Elektra”

Join Goethe for their latest lecture in their “A Note on Opera” series as they look at Richard Strauss’s “Elektra.”

“Elektra” was the first collaboration between Strauss and the great German-language playwright, the Austrian Hugo von Hoffmansthal. Their opera is a raw and brutal adaptation of the Greek legend about the doomed House of Agamemnon. Departing from its ancient Greek sources, the opera’s sole focus is Elektra’s violent, bloodthirsty obsession with avenging her father’s murder by her mother. Its lead role is arguably the most demanding in the dramatic soprano repertoire, requiring a voice that can at times pierce through and at others soar over a 121-piece orchestra.

Course to be taught in English by David Kerr. No pre-existing knowledge of music required.