him with an idea for such a work. Hofmannsthal had other ideas, and was insistent that Strauss should take up his adaptation of Sophocles’ play Electra. Like Salome, Elektra has a one-act structure and its central figure is an obsessive, destructive woman. Also like Salome, Strauss’s enthusiasm for the subject stemmed from watching a Max Reinhardt production ...
of the more normal seven. The contrabass trombone was a regular member of nineteenth-century opera houses and it was scored in works including Wagner’s Ring cycle (1848), Richard Strauss’s (1864–1949) Elektra (1909) and Arnold Schoenberg’s (1874–1951) Gurrelieder (1901). An instrument designed by G.C. Pelitti in 1881 at Giuseppe Verdi’s (1813–1901) request and subsequently known – incorrectly – as a ‘cimbasso’ ...
‘The Knight of the Rose’ For the follow-up to Elektra, Strauss declared he wanted to write a Mozart opera. Despite Hofmannsthal’s protests about a light, Renaissance subject set in the past, the librettist soon came up with a scenario that delighted Strauss. The correspondence between librettist and composer was good-natured and respectful. Each made suggestions to the other ...
the 1950s she became known as a Wagner specialist, singing regularly at Bayreuth 1957–70. She frequently appeared at Covent Garden from 1957, singing Turandot, Leonore (Fidelio) and Elektra, as well as Brünnhilde and Isolde. Her Metropolitan Opera debut was in 1959 as Isolde. Notable recordings are her Brünnhilde and Isolde under both Solti and Böhm. Introduction | ...
zone), elastic delivery and incredibly open-minded nature allow him to convincingly cover everything from pop, R&B, jazz and rock to demanding classical pieces. His 1982 self-titled debut on Elektra introduced an extraordinary talent, while his 1984 follow-up, The Voice, was a milestone in jazz – the first time a singer had recorded an entire album without ...
her US debut in Chicago in 1898, and between 1899 and 1932 she sang regularly with the Metropolitan Opera Company. She created the role of Klytämnestra in Richard Strauss’s Elektra, and boasted a repertory of 150 roles. Hailed as the world’s greatest contralto, she sang Erda (Siegfried) at the Met in 1932 aged 70. Introduction | Modern Era ...
cemented a growing international cult status achieved with little radio play. Puppet Life By this time the band had parted with Zazula and Megaforce, signing an eight-album deal with Elektra Records. Instrumental prowess on complex extended tracks like ‘Orion’ and the anti-war message of ‘Disposable Heroes’ – played at blistering speed – saw Master Of Puppets (1986) become Metallica’a first ...
1905, the opera was condemned by many as allegedly obscene and blasphemous. For others it was already the high point of Strauss’s career. Declining Reputation Strauss’s next work, Elektra, delved still further into the psychopathology of human nature and consolidated his reputation as the foremost avant-garde composer of his day. But it also marked a turn of creative ...
scenario for a ballet, which had been rejected. Strauss, though, did not forget their correspondence and they began an extraordinarily productive relationship with Elektra. The premiere of Elektra in 1909 was again a great success and the pair moved on with increased conviction. Strauss had been anxious to write a lighter, comic work even before beginning Elektra ...
form an acoustic folk pop group named The Jet Set. Managed by Crosby’s friend, producer Jim Dickson, the trio recorded a demo that secured them a deal with Elektra Records, and after undergoing an Anglicized name change to The Beefeaters they released a flop single titled ‘Please Let Me Love You’. Session musicians assisted them in that endeavour ...
Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche (1895), an exuberant, orchestral showpiece that remains a favourite with concert audiences. After 1900, Strauss increasingly turned to opera. In first Salome (1905), then Elektra (1909), he treated melodramatic subjects with a histrionic musical language that verged on the atonal. These works of musical expressionism are contemporaneous with the radical, atonal experiments of Arnold ...
, motherfuckers’, the early use of the ‘mf’ word – nearly 30 years before it became commonplace on rap records – led to some shops refusing to stock the record. Elektra Records had to release an alternative version with ‘brothers and sisters’ replacing ‘motherfuckers’. With their radical anti-establishment politics, The MC5 became the figurehead for the White Panther Party whose ...
Wagnerian adherents explored increasing chromaticism, often allied to the expression or exploration of ever-more powerful emotions. The corresponding artistic movement was Expressionism. Representative were the operas Salome (1905) and Elektra (1909) by Richard Strauss (1864–1949), the opera Wozzeck (1914–20) by Alban Berg (1885–1935) and Arnold Schoenberg’s (1874–1951) monodrama Erwartung (‘Expectation’, 1909). In all these, dissonance, rhythmic unpredictability, ...
of a secure, civilized and supremely hierarchical culture. Early in the twentieth century, Richard Strauss’s (1864–1949) Salome (1905), had pointed the way to the future, followed by Elektra in 1909, both of which employed new and bold musical language to push chromaticism to its breaking point and thrust tonality towards the edge of the abyss. For his ...
Out The Jams (a taunt they used to hurl at visiting laid-back West Coast bands), recorded in front of their Detroit home crowd, is fast, furious but focussed. Elektra Records managed to keep the word ‘Motherf***ers’ out of the title but left it on the record to the outrage of middle America. August The Stooges Wanna Be Your Dog ...
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