Astrid Varnay als Elektra (Köln 1953)

The magnificent Astrid Varnay as Richard Strauss' ELEKTRA. Entrance scene from a performance in Cologne in 1953 conducted by Richard Kraus.

If this stirs you.... check out the Gala Label CD. Varnay is an Elektra to die for!

Allein! Weh, ganz allein. Der Vater fort,
hinabgescheucht in seine kalten Klüfte.

Agamemnon! Agamemnon!
Wo bist du, Vater? Hast du nicht die Kraft,
dein Angesicht herauf zu mir zu schleppen?
Es ist die Stunde, unsre Stunde ist's!
Die Stunde, wo sie dich geschlachtet haben,
dein Weib und der mit ihr in einem Bette,
in deinem königlichen Bette schläft.
Sie schlugen dich im Bade tot, dein Blut
rann über deine Augen, und das Bad
dampfte von deinem Blut, da nahm er dich,
der Feige, bei den Schultern, zerrte dich
hinaus aus dem Gemach, den Kopf voraus,
die Beine schleifend hinterher: dein Auge,
das starre, offne, sah herein ins Haus.
So kommst du wieder, setzest Fuss vor Fuss
und stehst auf einmal da, die beiden Augen
weit offen, und ein königlicher Reif
von Purpur ist um deine Stirn, der speist sich
aus des Hauptes offner Wunde.
Agamemnon! Vater!
Ich will dich sehn, lass mich heute nicht allein!
Nur so wie gestern, wie ein Schatten, dort
im Mauerwinkel zeig dich deinem Kind!
Vater! Agamemnon, dein Tag wird kommen!
Von den Sternen
stürzt alle Zeit herab, so wird das Blut
aus hundert Kehlen stürzen auf dein Grab!
So wie aus umgeworfnen Krügen wird's
aus den gebunden Mördern fliessen,
und in einem Schwall, in einem
geschwollnen Bach wird ihres Lebens Leben
aus ihnen stürzen - und wir schlachten dir
die Rosse, die im Hause sind, wir treiben
sie vor dem Grab zusammen, und sie ahnen
den Tod und wiehern in die Todesluft
und sterben, und wir schlachten dir die Hunde,
die dir die Füsse leckten, die mit dir gejagt, denen du
die Bissen hinwarfst, darum müss ihr Blut
hinab, um dir zu Dienst zu sein, und wir, wir,
dein Blut, dein Sohn Orest und deine Töchter,
wir drei, wenn alles dies vollbracht und Purpur-
gezelte aufgerichtet sind, vom Dunst
des Blutes, den die Sonne nach sich zieht,
dann tanzen wir, dein Blut, rings um dein Grab:

und über Leichen hin werd' ich das Knie
hochheben Schritt für Schritt, und die mich werden
so tanzen sehn, ja, die meinen Schatten
von weiten nur so werden tanzen sehn,
die werden sagen: einem grossen König
wird hier ein grosses Prunkfest angestellt
von seinem Fleisch und Blut, und glücklich ist,
wer Kinder hat, die um sein hohes Grab
so königliche Siegestänze tanzen!
Agamemnon! Agamemnon!

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Astrid
• varnay
• Elektra
• Richard
• Strauss
• opera
• smorg

[SDCmorg]

Thanks for comments, guys. :o) I'll ask for restraint in projecting which diva sings this thing 'better'. They are all different artists and bring different qualities to their interpretation. I'll take Varnay's 1953 Elektra if I'm only allowed one, but that doesn't mean she was better than anyone else. I just prefer her way of acting with her voice. Nilsson and Varnay were good friends and they appreciated each other.

[Arashi110]

Wow, what an expressive voice! Though I'm not a fan of Srauss' music and never heard this opera, I can very well imagine what a gorgeous Elektra Varnay had been.

[SDCmorg]

She was probably the most unforgettable Elektra, I think. She was the Maria Callas of the German opera after WW II years. You really must look for her clips as the Kostelnicka in Jenufa. She has me silently shrieking for mercy as she runs off the stage with the baby every time I watch it.

It's a real shame no video exist of her in her Soprano yrs. Would love to see her Bruennhilde, Fidelio, and Isolde. :o) I didn't like Elektra until I heard this CD, then the opera suddenly isn't long enough!

[jirizika1962]

Thank you not only for your postings but for your comments, too. Unfortunately we can read not only wise commentary here and I fully agree with the nonsense in finding the best diva in the certain aria. What a flat aproach toward dramatic art in general! I profer Igne Borkh as Elektra but it would never restrict me to enjoy another artist /and Astrid Varnay is one of them/.

[podkivanok]

yes, it is my favorite "Elektra". Varnay is a goddess, and I think that Kraus' conducting is more interesting than Solti's. Not so hectic but just therefore more expressive. So german :)

[mizzothify]

Besides all other qualities of this performance, I did not think Elektra could be sung with such clear diction!

[Chsrles62]

My heart always belongs to Birgit, but boy, this is fantastic too.

[sorobji]

Really, really the elektra to end all elektras. This is better than the met one from the previous year. And to have seen her in action must have been exhilarating! She was the complete lyric-acting-soprano. She had everything. That lucious middle voice and piercing high notes.

[timopragod]

They are both great! Varneay had a great deal more in the middle, and those voices sometimes don't have the ease in the higher tones... Nilsson had the tops like made, but never the lush soud on the middle voice. Both wonderful in the role. Thank for for both of them. Thank God for Borkh as well, She was also wonderful.

[Turand0t]

Brilliant singing from a brilliant singer. If I am allowed I'd say I love Nilssons more because of her focused brilliance that made Electra sound somewhat colder and therefore more scary to me. I can only hope I'll be fortunate enough to sing it myself one day in the not too vast future, when I grow up. Till then I'll just enjoy all the fantastic singers that are and that have been entertaining and doing their absolute best to move us. Viva Richard Strauss!!! May he live on through his music.

[zampieriano]

Fast überflüssig den Text anzuführen, da die Varnay hier unglaublich wortdeutlich ist!

[billyguns2]

My absolute favorite performance of this amazing monologue, Varnay was a consummate vocal actress along the lines of Callas. The sound here is excellent, better than my CDs; many thanks for uploading it.

[jirizika1962]

This is abslutely true! Her acting and dramatic singing is similar to Callas`s. This is what I wanted to express above... Hardly some artist can be generaly said to be the best of all. But there are certain roles in which one can be unsurpassable. And Varnay`s Kostelnicka is real dramatic art lesson!! Thank a lot fot the clip!