She is simply sensational here. One of the greatest nights of her career - thank goodness it was recorded! The childlike purity of her voice in this scene is something so few others have achieved, she sounds like a Marschallin voice, and this after so many Brunhildes, Elektras and Salomes.
Her's may not have been a talent that appealed to all, but for those of us who "got" her, Behrens was a revelation in nearly all she sang. This performance of Elektra was earth shattering and the roar that went up at the end was one of the most amazing things I've heard in an opera house. Brava, Hildegard!
I attended this performance. The vocal and acting performance of Hildegard Behrens is at the top of my list of all-time favorites. The audience response to her first curtain call was nothing short of thunderous. Deborah Voigt as Chrysothemis and Brigit Fassbenber as Klytemnestra were also magnificent. Ms. Behrens, fine artist and gracious lady, you are truly missed.
Lydia Collins I certainly agree with you about Behrens and Voigt. But I thought Fassbender ruined the performance. Oh, how I hate mezzos who foam at the mouth, chew the scenery, and can barely sing anymore. I don’t know how Behrens didn’t burst out laughing at her ridiculous colleague. And Fassbender was great in lieder recitals.
It took me a WHILE to appreciate Behrens... Her performances in Gotterdammerung (The first of the Ring cycle I had seen on stage!), Wozzeck, and here, as Elektra, quickly changed my mind.
How many sopranos in this role could stand the close scruitiny of a camera and still remain utterly convincing as a human being? I think this clip encapsulates what made her such a remarkable artist. And what a voice! What a musician.
Strauss’ greatest moment and possibly the greatest opera of the nascent 20th century. But it is that heart attack set to music before the aria that makes me drop my jaw in disbelief. Who was this man, Strauss? More god than man I would think.
She was the best Elektra of all time. The only Elektra to capture the child element, not just an angry, disheveled monster but a child desperate for love. One of the greatest singing actresses to ever live.
Jeremy Trager You’ve really expressed perfectly what was great about her performance. Fierce, frightened, and childlike. I saw Gwyneth Jones that same year; different portrayal, but equally valid. I usually loathe the battle axes who come out screaming, ready to bite off heads - that’s not Elektra!
She was also one of our greatest Brunnhilde's; again, capitalizing on the vulnerabilities of the character, and her voice, had so much variety and depth.
Behrens sings this role with such beauty of tone. I was put off Elektra the first time I heard it in an opera house as the performance was just shrieking, even if I enjoyed the orchestration. Hildegard Behrens made me like this opera through her voice and portrayal. She was remarkable.
I just watched this on HD Steaming and was absolutely stunned. This opera leaves you speechless, the magnitude of genius between the Strauss score and libretto by von Hofmannsthal is almost incomprehensible. This was an epic performance that gives new meaning to "bringing down the house", and judging by the audience reaction during the curtain call, it very nearly did.
She was magnificent. And she got her law degree as well! I met her on three occasions through a mutual friend and saw her perform the Ring Cycle at the Met, and in 1994, Elektra. Astounding.
Sublime in every way. Beautifully vocalized, and so touching in her portrayal, especially this moment of peace in an otherwise barbaric story. I saw her during this run, although not this exact performance, and the audience was nearly faint at the end.
I love this scene...the only scene in the opera where Elektra shows any vulnerability. Behrens makes her almost childlike, as if longing for some innocent, irretrievable state. Beautiful.
Hildegard Behrens was a great artist. Not flawless, but truly great and inspired. Her Salome in Tivoli Gardens when she received the Sonning Prize will never be forgotten!
Well, she certainly "got" me. I also used to have some "prejudice" against her because I saw many comments about her performances and first saw her Tosca, which didn't appeal me very much. However, since I saw her unbelievably human and sincere interpretations in Wagner and Strauss roles, I love her as an artist. She also had a most pure and velvety voice when she was younger, and this aspect made her singing in dramatic roles very enticing and charming (for me, at least). :-)
I was there the afternoon this was taped. Unfortunately, I missed it when it was telecast and, as far as I know, it's never been issued. Behrens blew the roof off the house that day.
This performance is literally the only one I know of where the conductor fully exploits this massive climax at 0:44. So many conductors simply ignore it.
I’d like to add an additional comment about this performance, and especially this scene in the opera. Elektra is NOT insane. In the moments after this clip, Elektra explains to Orest what she has become, why she needed to sacrifice everything, how she used to be beautiful, what a wreck she has become. She’s very lucid and self-aware. It’s wrong to portray her as a madwoman. She is obsessed, of course, but obsession isn’t insanity.
![Journey to the Past ( From Anastasia) Performed by Mariz Mitra [Fan Cam Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/uRt-1eVpoy8/mqdefault.jpg)
She is simply sensational here. One of the greatest nights of her career - thank goodness it was recorded! The childlike purity of her voice in this scene is something so few others have achieved, she sounds like a Marschallin voice, and this after so many Brunhildes, Elektras and Salomes.
Her's may not have been a talent that appealed to all, but for those of us who "got" her, Behrens was a revelation in nearly all she sang. This performance of Elektra was earth shattering and the roar that went up at the end was one of the most amazing things I've heard in an opera house. Brava, Hildegard!
I love how she brought out the little girl frailty in all her big Wagnerian woman roles - it was so touching
She was special
I attended this performance. The vocal and acting performance of Hildegard Behrens is at the top of my list of all-time favorites. The audience response to her first curtain call was nothing short of thunderous. Deborah Voigt as Chrysothemis and Brigit Fassbenber as Klytemnestra were also magnificent. Ms. Behrens, fine artist and gracious lady, you are truly missed.
Lydia Collins I certainly agree with you about Behrens and Voigt. But I thought Fassbender ruined the performance. Oh, how I hate mezzos who foam at the mouth, chew the scenery, and can barely sing anymore. I don’t know how Behrens didn’t burst out laughing at her ridiculous colleague. And Fassbender was great in lieder recitals.
She was something, alright. I return to this video again and again.
@@powerliftingcentaur She was a Goddess 💙👑🍷
@@arnoldamaral7406 Yes.
@@wotan10950 Fassbaender presented a virtually cartoonish portrayal.
It took me a WHILE to appreciate Behrens... Her performances in Gotterdammerung (The first of the Ring cycle I had seen on stage!), Wozzeck, and here, as Elektra, quickly changed my mind.
How many sopranos in this role could stand the close scruitiny of a camera and still remain utterly convincing as a human being? I think this clip encapsulates what made her such a remarkable artist. And what a voice! What a musician.
She had the face of a German Expressionist film star.
Strauss’ greatest moment and possibly the greatest opera of the nascent 20th century.
But it is that heart attack set to music before the aria that makes me drop my jaw in disbelief. Who was this man, Strauss? More god than man I would think.
She was the best Elektra of all time. The only Elektra to capture the child element, not just an angry, disheveled monster but a child desperate for love. One of the greatest singing actresses to ever live.
Jeremy Trager You’ve really expressed perfectly what was great about her performance. Fierce, frightened, and childlike. I saw Gwyneth Jones that same year; different portrayal, but equally valid. I usually loathe the battle axes who come out screaming, ready to bite off heads - that’s not Elektra!
Perfectly said
I agree with you. I saw her in this role (Paris), Seiji Osawa conductor.
She was also one of our greatest Brunnhilde's; again, capitalizing on the vulnerabilities of the character, and her voice, had so much variety and depth.
Jeremy Trager, well said.
One of the great moments in all of opera -- realized magnificently by a superlative artist -- Hildegard Behrens!!
Behrens sings this role with such beauty of tone. I was put off Elektra the first time I heard it in an opera house as the performance was just shrieking, even if I enjoyed the orchestration. Hildegard Behrens made me like this opera through her voice and portrayal. She was remarkable.
A very broken child. That's called sadness. Just like Maria Callas. Hildegard Behrens a true Wonder.Arnold BOURBON AMARAL
I just watched this on HD Steaming and was absolutely stunned.
This opera leaves you speechless, the magnitude of genius between the Strauss score and libretto by von Hofmannsthal is almost incomprehensible.
This was an epic performance that gives new meaning to "bringing down the house", and judging by the audience reaction during the curtain call, it very nearly did.
She was magnificent. And she got her law degree as well! I met her on three occasions through a mutual friend and saw her perform the Ring Cycle at the Met, and in 1994, Elektra. Astounding.
Sublime in every way. Beautifully vocalized, and so touching in her portrayal, especially this moment of peace in an otherwise barbaric story. I saw her during this run, although not this exact performance, and the audience was nearly faint at the end.
The lovely😍🤩 and talented miss. Behrens.
🌷. With imense admiration; Greetings from Portugal. 🌞. 🌹.
What a fine representation of a great artist and singer! She sings this as well as anyone has ever sung it. Just Beautiful!!!
Ela é fantástica. A vi, anos atrás, cantando Wagner no Teatro Municipal do Rio de Janeiro. Foi lindo...
I love this scene...the only scene in the opera where Elektra shows any vulnerability. Behrens makes her almost childlike, as if longing for some innocent, irretrievable state. Beautiful.
Amazing absolutely amazing. The perfect Electra. I have this recording and I adore it. Her voice is so expensive and the joy is heard in her voice
Hildegard Behrens was a great artist. Not flawless, but truly great and inspired. Her Salome in Tivoli Gardens when she received the Sonning Prize will never be forgotten!
Liricissima Hildegard Behrens
Such an incredible performance of this ❤️
absolutely beautiful.
Well, she certainly "got" me. I also used to have some "prejudice" against her because I saw many comments about her performances and first saw her Tosca, which didn't appeal me very much. However, since I saw her unbelievably human and sincere interpretations in Wagner and Strauss roles, I love her as an artist. She also had a most pure and velvety voice when she was younger, and this aspect made her singing in dramatic roles very enticing and charming (for me, at least). :-)
Me parece insoportablemente bello. Sí, sublime!
I was there the afternoon this was taped. Unfortunately, I missed it when it was telecast and, as far as I know, it's never been issued. Behrens blew the roof off the house that day.
blipperUT Sorry to respond so many years later, but this DVD is available on Amazon.
i saw her sing it in London with Christa Ludwig as Klytaemnestra ... ELECTRIC ELECTRA!
Oh how I wish I had seen that!
I was present for the same cast in the Carnegie Hall performance. It was earth shattering!!!!! Behrens was magnificent!!
This is lovely. I just got her Salome with Karajan. Also, so lovely, vulnerable and so much acting present in her musicality.
Wunderbar!
Soberba Behrens!...Uma cantora genial...eu a vi no Municipal do Rio cantando Salamé, inesquecivel...
holy moly
🙏🏽👱🏿♀️Ο δακτυλιοειδής! 📯🦋
φωτιά των οστών μου,
No one will ever singit like you!
bravo
not a Behrens fan here but I would kill to have this on dvd.Her Elektra with Osawa/BSO is amazing as well.
This performance is literally the only one I know of where the conductor fully exploits this massive climax at 0:44. So many conductors simply ignore it.
Grande hildegard
I’d like to add an additional comment about this performance, and especially this scene in the opera. Elektra is NOT insane. In the moments after this clip, Elektra explains to Orest what she has become, why she needed to sacrifice everything, how she used to be beautiful, what a wreck she has become. She’s very lucid and self-aware. It’s wrong to portray her as a madwoman. She is obsessed, of course, but obsession isn’t insanity.
Too marvelous even to approach adequate description .
i'm not going to upload all of elektra you nut
@rexeterna then maybe just a few more scenes???
@rexeterna LOL
But of course the most revolutionare pieces are salome, elektra and "Thus spoke Zarathustra" for the time...
I think this performance was meant to vindicate her after an earlier one that found her in terrible vocal condition.
James Levine had terrible taste in singers.
Yes especially this one.
Bad acting
Luckily Behrens’ legacy will survive your criticism.