Elektra

Strauss’ Elektra (CNT Rijeka in partnership with «Cankar Hall» in Ljubljana and Slovenian Philharmonic), posed a completely different challenge to the one in Aida, not just because the psychological spectrum of its characters is incomparably wider, deeper, and therefore far more complex. Instead of expanding the overall mise-en-scène in order to turn this introvert expressionistic drama into a required operatic spectacle, the main performance space was minimized to the claustrophobic 4 square meters platform, and then inserted into the auditorium. That extreme proximity of performers and dramatis personae to the spectators enhanced already radical states of mind, affects and acts, both represented through characters and profoundly personally experienced by the leading singers-actors themselves. Ultimately, the fusion of explosive dramatic and musical intensities caused a disturbing synthesis of theatricality and reality, when spectacle is shattered by shock, when opera is becoming – a bare life...