forty-five.com / papers /176 Ryan M. Prendergast Reviewed by Nicholas Clark and Michele Spanghero Operas, Ethics, and Elektra: A Return to the Recordings of John Culshaw If there is any secret about the sort of work we have been doing i n V i e n n a o v e r t h e p a s t f e w y e a r s , i t h a s fi n a l l y n o t h i n g t o d o w i t h b i g g e r a n d b e t t e r m a c h i n e s , a l t h o u g h t h e y c e r t a i n l y i n c r e a s e e f fi c i e n c y : i t h a s t o d o w i t h t r y i n g t o g e t t o thear of a score before you record a note of it, so that before you b e g i n y o u h a v e a c o n c e p t o f w h a t t h e fi n a l r e c o r d i s g o i n g to s o u n d l i k e . T h i s c o n c e p t m a y , o f c o u r s e , b e r i g h t o r w r o n g ; i t m a y b e s u s t a i n e d o r m o d i fi e d a s t h i n g s p r o g r e s s ; b u the i m p o r t a n t t h i n g i s t h a t i t s h o u l d b e t h e r e t o s t a r t w i t h , f o r t h e c a t a l o g u e s a r e f u l l o f e x a m p l e s t o s h o w w h a t h a p p e n s w h e n i t isn’t. J o h n C u l s h a w , “ T h r e e f o r t h e R o a d , ” G r a m o p h o n e ( M a r c h 1968): 474. A m i d t h e w e a l t h o f o p e r a r e c o r d i n g s p r o d u c e d i n t h e m i d - t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y , t h e s e t s r e l e a s e d b y t h e D e c c a R e c o r d C o m p a n y c o n t i n u e t o r e s o u n d w i t h c r i t i c s a n d l i s t e n e r s a l i k e . 1 C r u c i a l t o t h e i r p r o d u c t i o n a n d s u c c e s s w a s J o h n C u l s h a w , C l a s s i c a l A r t i s t s a n d R e p e r t o i r e M a n a g e r f o r D e c c a f r o m 1 9 5 6 t o 1 9 6 7. C u l s h a w ’ s w o r k i n o p e r a — w h i c h i n c l u d e s t h e fi r s t c o m p l e t e s t e r e o r e l e a s e o f W a g n e r ’ s m a m m o t h D erRing d e s N i b e l u n g e n ( 1 9 5 9 - 1 9 6 6 ) — b l a z e d a p r o g r e s s i v e t r a i l . His aesthetic as a producer envisioned opera on record not a s a s i m u l a c r u m o f a l i v e o p e r a h o u s e p e r f o r m a n c e b u t a s a n i n d e p e n d e n t r e a l i z a t i o n s u b j e c t t o i t s o w n c o n v e n t i o n s . S u c h a n a p p r o a c h b o l d l y s e i z e d t h e o p p o r t u n i t i e s o f f e r e d b y stereophonic sound and the recording studio: “the ideal stereo version of any opera must be a production in its own right w i t h i n i t s o w n m e d i u m [ C u l s h a w ’ s i t a l i c s ] . I t i s n o t m e a n t t o p u t t h e l i s t e n e r i n h i s f a v o r i t e s e a t a t t h e o p e r a h o u s e : i t s h o u l d n o t e v e n t r y . W i t h i n i t s o w n t e r m s , i t c a n d o m u c h better.”2 I n a t t e m p t i n g t o d o “ b e t t e r , ” h o w e v e r , C u l s h a w s p a r k e d a c o m p l e x d i s c o u r s e c o n c e r n i n g t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p o f r e c o r d e d o p e r a w i t h “ l i v e n e s s ” a n d a u d i o - v i s u a l m e d i a . T h o u g h t h e s t u d i o r e c o r d i n g p r a c t i c e s o f C u l s h a w ’ s h e y d a y a r e now a distant memory, their legacy still reverberates in the present. W h i l e t h e D e c c a R i n g c o n t i n u e s t o a t t r a c t d i s c u r s i v e a t t e n t i o n in this regard, several Culshaw-produced operas in the D e c c a c a t a l o g u e r e m a i n u n d e r e x p l o r e d — f o r e x a m p l e , t h e 1 9 6 7 r e c o r d i n g o f R i c h a r d S t r a u s s ’ s 1 9 0 9 o p e r a E l e k t r a , o n e o f C u l s h a w ’ s l a s t p r o j e c t s f o r t h e c o m p a n y . 3 F o r c a s u a l l i s t e n e r s a n d c o n n o i s s e u r s a l i k e , t h e D e c c a E l e k t r a r e m a i n s a n i m p r e s s i v e i n t e r p r e t a t i o n f e a t u r i n g a f o r m i d a b l e g r o u p o f p e r f o r m e r s : s o p r a n o B i r g i t N i l s s o n a s E l e k t r a , t h e e v e r - v e r s a t i l e m e z z o - s o p r a n o R e g i n a R e s n i k a s E l e k t r a ’ s m o t h e r K l y t ä m n e s t r a , s o p r a n o M a r i e C o l l i e r a s E l e k t r a ’ s s i s t e r C h r y s o t h e m i s , a n d a t r e m e n d o u s s u p p o r t i n g c a s t l e d b y c o n d u c t o r G e o r g S o l t i ( n o t y e t t h e n “ S i r ” ) w i t h t h e V i e n n a 3 Philharmonic Orchestra.4 N o l e s s r e m a r k a b l e w a s D e c c a ’ s v e t e r a n r e c o r d i n g t e a m a s s e m b l e d f o r t h e p r o j e c t : p r o d u c e r C h r i s t o p h e r R a e b u r n , w h o a s s i s t e d C u l s h a w w i t h t h e s i n g e r s ; e n g i n e e r s G o r d o n P a r r y a n d J a m e s B r o w n ; a n d t a p e e d i t o r J a c k Law.5 Despite such distinguished participants on the Decca Elektra, c r i t i c a l r e s p o n s e t o t h e fi n a l r e c o r d i n g w a s d i v i d e d .