Critic’s Choice
“Electra at the Tomb of Agamemnon” by Frederic Leighton, 1869.
Completing its four-year traversal of Wagner’s The Ring of the Nibelung freed up Houston Grand Opera to explore other branches of the German repertoire, and the company begins this weekend with its first staging of Richard Strauss’s Elektra in more than 20 years.
Christine Goerke, today’s leading interpreter of Strauss’ tormented heroine, heads the cast, and her impact may come here across as never before. The HGO Resilience Theater, a temporary venue installed after Hurricane Harvey in Houston’s convention center, puts the orchestra behind the stage. No pit separates the stage and audience, so operagoers will experience Goerke’s voluminous tones up close and personal. Fasten your seat belt.
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