Elektra Is Met Opera's April 16, 2022, Saturday Matinee Broadcast

Summary: Elektra is Met Opera's April 16, 2022, Saturday matinee broadcast, airing as 16th of the 2021-2022 season's 24 Saturday matinee opera broadcasts.

Nina Stemme's portrayal of revenge-frenzied Elektra in the 2021-2022 season's second revival of Patrice Chéreau's 2015-2016 season new production of Strauss's Elektra marks her first reprisal of the title role: The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera, via Facebook July 6, 2021

Strauss's Elektra is Met Opera's April 16, 2022, Saturday matinee broadcast, scheduled as the 16th of 24 Saturday matinee opera broadcasts in the 2021-2022 season.

Elektra by German late Romantic and early modern composer Richard Strauss (June 11, 1864-Sept. 8, 1949) receives six performances, all in April, in the 2021-2022 season. The first through sixth, closing performances are scheduled for Friday, April 1, at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time; Tuesday, April 5, at 7:00 p.m.; Saturday, April 9, at 8:00 p.m.; Tuesday, April 12, at 8:00 p.m.; Saturday, April 16, at 1:00 p.m.; and Wednesday, April 20, at 8:00 p.m.

The 2021-2022 season's staging of Elektra marks the second revival of the new Met Opera production debuted by Patrice Chéreau (Nov. 2, 1944-Oct. 7, 2013) in the 2015-2016 season. The French opera and theatre director had made his Met Opera debut Thursday, Nov. 12, 2009, in the Metropolitan Opera premiere of From the House of the Dead by Czech composer Leoš Janáček (July 3, 1854-Aug. 12, 1928).

Met Opera held the first revival of Chéreau's production in the 2017-2018 season. The first revival received six performances.

Sir Donald Runnicles conducts all six performances of Elektra in the 2021-2022 season. The Scottish conductor had made his Met Opera debut Tuesday, April 7, 1998, in Lulu by Austrian composer Alban Berg (Feb. 9, 1885-Dec. 24, 1935).

Nina Stemme originally was scheduled to sing the title role of vengeful Elektra in all six performances of the second revival. The Swedish dramatic soprano reprises her role from the new production's debut in the 2015-2016 season. Nina Stemme had made her Met Opera debut Friday, Nov. 24, 2000, as Senta in the opera house’s 140th performance of Der Fliegende Holländer by German Romantic Era composer-librettist Richard Wagner (May 22, 1813-Feb. 13, 1883).

Update: The Metropolitan Opera announced, via Twitter Tuesday, April 12, 2022, at 12:22 p.m., the replacement of Nina Stemme by Rebecca Nash as Elektra in the evening's performance. Her appearance in the season's fourth Elektra performance marks the Australian soprano's Met Opera debut.

Update: The Metropolitan Opera announced, via Twitter Wednesday, April 20, 2022, at 2:48 p.m., the replacement of Nina Stemme by Rebecca Nash in the title role in the evening's performance. Rebecca Nash's return as Elektra gives her two performances (April 12; closing, April 20) in the title role and reduces Nina Stemme's title appearances to four (opening, April 1; April 5, 9, 16) of the season's six Elektra performances.

Lise Davidsen is the second revival's Chrysothemis, who refuses to join in her sister's vengeance against their mother, Klytämnestra, and her lover, Aegisth. The Norwegian lyric dramatic soprano had made her Met Opera debut Friday, Nov. 29, 2019, as Lisa in the opera house's 72nd performance of The Queen of Spades by Russian late Romantic era composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (May 7, 1840-Nov. 6, 1893).

Elektra numbers as the second of three Saturday matinee opera broadcasts for Lise Davidsen. She sang the title role in the March 12 Saturday matinee opera broadcast of Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos. She sings Eva in the May 14 Saturday matinee opera broadcast of Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg.

Update: The Metropolitan Opera announced, via Twitter Wednesday, April 20, 2022, at 2:48 p.m., the replacement of Lise Davidsen with Wendy Bryn Harmer for the evening's closing performance of Elektra. The American dramatic soprano had made her Met Opera debut Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2005, as a Peasant in the opera company's 419th performance of Le Nozze di Figaro by Classical Era composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Jan. 27, 1756-Dec. 5, 1791), according to the Metropolitan Opera Archives Database (MetOpera Database). According to the Metropolitan Opera website's page for the 2021-2022 season's performances of Elektra, Wendy Bryn Harmer's debut role is described as "First Bridesmaid."

Greer Grimsley is the second revival's Orest, who carries out his sister Elektra's vengeful schemes against their mother and her lover. The American bass-baritone had made his Met Opera debut Friday, Dec. 23, 1994, as Captain Balstrode in the opera house's 56th performance of Peter Grimes by Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (Nov. 22, 1913-Dec. 4, 1976).

Michael Schuster is the second revival's Klytämnestra, whose murder, along with her lover Aegisth, by her son Orest avenges the slaying of her husband, Agamemnon, by her and Aegisth. The German operatic mezzo-soprano's portrayal of Klytämnestra in the second revival marks her first reprisal of the role in which she had made her Met Opera debut Thursday, March 1, 2018, in the production's first revival.

Stefan Vinke is the second revival's Aegisth, Klytämnestra lover, whose murder by Klytämnestra's son Orest avenges his co-murder, with his lover, of her husband, King Agamemnon. The German tenor had made his Met Opera debut Saturday, April 13, 2019, in the title role in the opera house's 272nd performance of the Wagner's Siegfried.

The second revival's first performance, Friday, April 1, in the 2021-2022 season numbered as the opera house's 115th performance of Elektra. The Metropolitan Opera premiere of Elektra took place Saturday, Dec. 3, 1932. The Greek mythology-based opera received six performances in the 1932-1933 season.

The takeaways for Elektra as Met Opera's April 16, 2022, Saturday matinee broadcast are that the opera about Elektra's revenge airs as the 16th of the 2021-2022 season's 24 operas; that the 2021-2022 season's performances occur as the second revival of the new Met Opera production debuted by French opera and theatre director Patrice Chéreau in the 2015-2016 season; that Nina Stemme's portrayal marks her first reprisal of the title role since the production's debut; that Michaela Schuster's portrayal of Klytämnestra marks her first reprisal of the 2017-2018 season's first revival role in which she made her Met Opera debut; and that Elektra numbers as the second of three Saturday matinee opera broadcasts in the 2021-2022 season for Lise Davidsen.

Michaela Schuster's portrayal of Klytämnestra in the 2021-2022 season's second revival of Patrice Chéreau's production of Strauss's Elektra marks her first reprisal of the first revival role in which she made her Met Opera debut: Elza van den Heever @elzasoprano, via Twitter March 14, 2018

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Nina Stemme's portrayal of revenge-frenzied Elektra in the 2021-2022 season's second revival of Patrice Chéreau's 2015-2016 season new production of Strauss's Elektra marks her first reprisal of the title role: The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera, via Facebook July 6, 2021, @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/posts/10165447695220533

Michaela Schuster's portrayal of Klytämnestra in the 2021-2022 season's second revival of Patrice Chéreau's production of Strauss's Elektra marks her first reprisal of the first revival role in which she made her Met Opera debut: Elza van den Heever @elzasoprano, via Twitter March 14, 2018, @ https://twitter.com/elzasoprano/status/974030319799107585/photo/3

For further information:

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"Debut: Rebecca Nash." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 357621 Elektra {118} Metropolitan Opera House: 04/12/2022.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=357621

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"Debuts: Esa-Pekka Salonen, Patrice Chéreau, Thierry Thieû Niang, Caroline de Vivaise, Bertrand Couderc, Eric Stoklossa, Stefan Margita, Vladimir Chmelo, Scott Scully, Ales Jenis, Marian Pavlovic, Peter Hoare, Andreas Conrad." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 353170 Metropolitan Opera Premiere From the House of the Dead {1} Metropolitan Opera House: 11/12/2009. Sirius and XM Broadcast live Streamed at metopera.org November 12, 2009 Broadcast/Streamed.
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"Debuts: Mark Wigglesworth, Maurizio Muraro, Joyce DiDonato, Wendy Bryn Harmer, Leann Sandel-Pantaleo." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 351338 Le Nozze di Figaro {419} Metropolitan Opera House: 11/02/2005.
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Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=356901

"Debuts: Vasily Petrenko, Lise Davidsen, Igor Golovatenko, Patrick Cook, Mané Galoyan." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 357330 The Queen of Spades {72} Metropolitan Opera House: 11/29/2019. Metropolitan Opera Radio Sirius XM channel 75 Broadcast live Streamed at metopera.org.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=355411

Elza van den Heever @elzasoprano. "Backstage Fun at @MetOpera #Elektra!! With @PlacidoDomingo, Thierry Fouquet, Ruth Falcon (former wonderful Chrysothemis!) & the fantastic Michaela Schuster who plays my mother Clytemnestra. Thank you for all the support!! #MetOpera #NYC." Twitter. March 14, 2018.
Available @ https://twitter.com/elzasoprano/status/974030319799107585/photo/3

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Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera. "In tonight’s performance of Strauss’s Elektra, Rebecca Nash makes her Met debut in the title role. #CastChange." Twitter. April 12, 2022.
Available @ https://twitter.com/MetOpera/status/1513915474056208398

Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera. "In tonight’s performance of Strauss’s Elektra, the title role will be sung by Rebecca Nash, and the role of Chrysothemis will be sung by Wendy Bryn Harmer. #CastChange." Twitter. April 20, 2022, 2:48 p.m.
Available @ https://twitter.com/MetOpera/status/1516851326604431363

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Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera. "Nina Stemme gives a tour-de-force performance in the title role of Elektra in tonight’s Nightly Opera Stream. Available for free at 7:30PM ET until March 26 at 6:30PM ET. Watch Now: http://bit.ly/38Jg7MM." Twitter. March 25, 2021.
Available @ https://twitter.com/MetOpera/status/1375204608017117185

The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera. "Tonight’s free Nightly Met Opera Stream: Soprano Nina Stemme gives a tour-de-force performance in the title role of Strauss’s Elektra. Late director Patrice Chéreau’s gripping staging also features soprano Adrianne Pieczonka as Chrysothemis, mezzo-soprano Waltraud Meier as Klytämnestra, and bass-baritone Eric Owens as Orest. Esa-Pekka Salonen conducts one of the 20th century’s most explosive scores—available tonight, July 6, starting at 7:30PM ET until tomorrow, July 7, at 6:30PM ET. Access the stream, with subtitles, via the link below or on the Met Opera on Demand apps. Photo by Marty Sohl / Met Opera. Watch Now: bit.ly/2SHFOZ4." Facebook. July 6, 2021.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/posts/10165447695220533

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