Yes, I admit that Solti’s recording is replete with sound and fury—in this opera it’s hard to end up with anything else, after all—but I do take issue with much of his conducting per se, even though he provides orchestral support sufficiently large-scaled to match Nilsson’s voice. Of the few singers to really have what the title role demands, Nilsson’s account still stands as a significant achievement. Her commitment is not in doubt, and her famously steely tone cleaves its way through even the thickest orchestration. But is it all too safely done? Where are the risks taken in the music-making?

Of course, this is far from a one-woman show. Regina Resnik provides a magnificent foil to Nilsson’s Elektra as Klytämnestra, coming across as deliciously mad and wild from the start. If only Marie Collier brought quite the same depth of expression to Chrysothemis, but she does not. The main male roles get a more reasonable aspect; Gerhard Stolze offers a brooding Aegisth, and Tom Krause might surprise some with the genuine beauty of his Orest."

FANFARE: Evan Dickerson [9/2007]