1 Contents Special thanks to our education community partners Activity guide overview 3 A brief history of opera 5 Vocal spotlight 7 Characters in Elektra 9 Elektra overview 10 Synopsis 11 Composer biography : Richard Strauss 12 Interview with conductor Alex Prior 13 The music of Elektra 15 Greek tragedy 16 Expressionism in Elektra 18 Activity: Creative concept 19 Activity: Storyboard 21 Activity: Poster design 23 Activity: Character reflections 24 Activity: Design a playbill 25 Elektra further listening 26 Nothing beats the excitement of live opera! For more information on how your class can attend a dress rehearsal at special student pricing, contact us by email at [email protected] or visit us online at Photos courtesy of Teatro Comunale di Bologna, 2015 edmontonopera.com/discover/education production of Elektra starring Elizabeth Blancke-Biggs 2 Education and Activity Opera 101 Guide Overview Opera is the art form of all art forms — it combines theatre, orchestral music, unamplified live singing, visual design, This education and activity guide is designed for teachers, and much more. Going to the opera is not only a beautiful students, and those who are interested in engaging with artistic experience, it can also be a very educational trip. various aspects of the opera both before and after attending the performance. Opera gives students the opportunity to engage with a variety of historical movements in literature, art, and The first part of this guide is more reading-based, with a politics. Each opera sheds light on the era it was composed detailed overview, synopsis, and conceptual discussion of in and contains themes relevant to today’s world. Edmonton Opera’s Elektra. This is essential learning before you proceed to the activities because it places the To make the most of your opera experience, please read the production within a specific framework. Teachers may following pointers on opera etiquette before attending the distribute the content for students to read as-is, or choose dress rehearsal. to go over the material with the entire class. Arrive early! This guide is intended for all grades attending the performance; there are some suggested ways to adapt the Your tickets will be available at the auditorium 45 minutes content based on difficulty level, but teachers are prior to show time. Please allow enough time to seat your encouraged to modify activities to suit the needs of their group — we suggest 20 minutes. The dress rehearsal for class. Elektra will begin promptly at 7 p.m., so allot extra time for ticket pickup, seating, etc. It is also best to have students Please contact us with any questions about this guide at use the washroom prior to locating your seats within the [email protected]. We can provide resources theatre. for further discussion, suggestions on how to tailor activities and content for your class, and more. 3 Applause is welcome! • Please stay seated. Once in the theatre it is courteous to remain seated until the end of the Opera is spectacle. Your presence in the audience is performance. Please do not leave the theatre unless essential to complete the whole experience. Enjoy the there is an emergency. performance and respond to what you see. Unlike • No food, gum, or drinks of any kind (except water) in television or film, every live performance is unique: only the theatre. you and the performers will share the experience you have • Students are welcome to bring packed food items, in the theatre. Your warmth and good humour are but these must not be eaten in the theatre. Food may important to them, so when you like something, tell them only be consumed out in the lobby. with your applause. • Bottled water is allowed in the theatre. Applaud after the arias as well as after the performance; • Acoustics are very good in the Jubilee auditorium, so you can shout “Bravo!” for a man, “Brava!” for a woman, any sounds of food being unwrapped, bottles being and “Bravi!” for more than one person, or the whole crushed, etc. will be heard throughout. performance. Keep in mind: No cameras or recording devices. • Use the bathrooms before the rehearsal begins. The artists’ images and performances belong to them and • Be silent if the performance has to stop for a few we ask you to respect that by refraining from recording moments (this is a performance, but also a working their work in any way. rehearsal so it may be necessary to stop at times). • If you must use the washroom during the Other pointers: performance, please be accompanied by an adult supervisor. The ushers might let you in again when The performance of Elektra is 100 minutes with • there is an appropriate pause in the action, and in no intermission. Elektra, there is no intermission. • Turn off your cell phones and all electronic devices. • Keep movement and voices down to a minimum, as this is a live dress rehearsal performance. 4 5 6 7 8 Characters Elektra — soprano Daughter of Agamemnon and Klytämnestra Klytämnestra — mezzo-soprano Elektra’s mother Chrysothemis — soprano Elektra’s sister Orest — baritone Elektra’s brother Aegisth — tenor Klytämnestra’s lover, Agamemnon’s cousin 9 Overview expressionism that was not yet mainstream. The orchestra in Elektra is large and produces clashing sounds, which create a dissonant and chromatic landscape for the opera. Elektra is easily one of the most brilliant operas ever The music is not ‘pleasant’, rather it relies on some degree composed, and also one of the most difficult to perform. of sensory assault. When Richard Strauss premiered this piece at Dresden in 1909, the audience could not believe their eyes and ears — Strauss’s greatest triumph with Elektra was creating a they had just experienced one hundred minutes of radical score that does not allow the audience a second’s rest from operatic genius. They stood perplexed and benumbed for the action. The opera starts with absolute intensity, and several moments before bursting into thunderous cheers carries its energy throughout, keeping the audience on the and applause. edge of their seats for the entire duration. The singing also never loses its magnitude — especially for Elektra. This is a Based on the ancient Greek myth of Electra, this opera challenging role for any soprano to perform, and needs follows the journey of its tormented protagonist as she immense vocal stamina, requiring her to jump from one mourns the death of her father and promises revenge on dramatic note to another. Elektra has often been described her mother for killing him. It explores the deep as the most visceral and commanding one-woman show psychological turmoil that grief can bring to a fragile mind, ever written. turning Elektra from a noble daughter into an obsessive murderer. As you settle into your seats for the performance, prepare yourself to delve into the darkness of a mind possessed by The music of Elektra is also particularly inventive because hatred. Elektra is no ordinary piece — it is theatre that it seeks to both mirror and fuel the protagonist’s emotional immerses you completely, blending ancient myth with states. When the orchestra becomes dissonant, Elektra’s modernist music to create a spectacular opera narrative mind descends into chaos; when she runs around the stage never experienced before. frantically, the orchestra keeps up with tremendous pace. As Elektra’s emotional state deteriorates, the music We hope you enjoy the Alberta premiere of Richard becomes even more complex and harsh. Strauss’s masterpiece Elektra. Stylistically, Strauss almost belongs in his own category. Both Elektra and his previous opera Salome defied the musical conventions of the time, and embodied an 10 Synopsis however, backs out, leaving an enraged Elektra to act on her own. The servants outside the royal palace are debating whether Elektra runs up to one of the strangers who just arrived at Elektra will come out of hiding today, or if she will continue the palace, asking him questions about Orest. The stranger to grieve her father’s death. They mock Elektra for her is revealed to be Orest himself, who had disguised himself madness, as she appears and steers clear of the group. to sneak into the palace. Ecstatic at this reunion, brother and sister comfort one another. On her own, Elektra agonizes over her father’s murder, recounting how he was killed by her mother Klytämnestra The hour of vengeance now upon them, Orest heads into upon returning from Troy. Elektra declares her revenge on Klytämnestra’s chambers and proceeds to fulfill his bloody Klytämnestra, plotting murder with the help of her sister revenge. Elektra revels in her mother’s panicked screams. Chrysothemis and brother Orest, whose arrival she awaits. Aegisth, Klytämnestra’s lover, arrives in the palace at this moment and faces the same gruesome fate at Orest’s hands. Chrysothemis rushes in suddenly, informing Elektra that Klytämnestra and her lover Aegisth have decided that Possessed by euphoria and madness at this successful Elektra will be locked up in a tower. double murder, Elektra dances, and dances, and dances, until she drops. Elektra’s fragile mind succumbs to its Klytämnestra enters, engaging Elektra in conversation, frenzy. telling her about the nightmares she has been having. Elektra replies that a sacrifice must be made in order to Orest leaves the palace in silence. cure Klytämnestra of those nightmares. She then declares that the sacrifice, in fact, is Klytämnestra’s own life. Elektra describes the brutal ways in which Klytämnestra will be murdered, that too at the hands of her own son Orest. Two strangers then arrive, and Klytämnestra is taken away to meet them, leaving Elektra alone again. Chrysothemis runs back to Elektra, informing her that their brother Orest has died.