Double Murder Richard Strauss's 'Elektra' - reviewed by ROBERT ANDERSON '... the whole cast has been exemplary under the masterful direction of Esa-Pekka Salonen.'

The House of Atreus must have been one or the most unneighbourly in the whole of human history. Greek dramatists dealt cheerfully, if that is the word, with its endless series of family murders, but even they scrupled to put on the stage the episode when Atreus served up to Thyestes a roast meal of his own children. Perhaps it was as well that after Elektra Hofmannsthal steered Strauss towards Der Rosenkavalier and a series of more savoury myths from the ancient world. Elektra remains an astonishing achievement, but Strauss himself surely realised he could explore no further in this particular chamber of horrors...

RICHARD STRAUSS

ELEKTRA

GREECE

ESA-PEKKA SALONEN

BEL AIR CLASSIQUES

AIX-EN-PROVENCE

FRANCE