Richard Strauss' "Elektra" is renowned as a tour de force for the soprano in the title role. She is onstage for most of the 100-minute running time, and the composer's voluptuous yet dissonant music is challenging.
Still, any production of "Elektra" will fall flat unless Elektra's mother, Klytämnestra, is equally compelling in her brief but intense appearance, as the central conflict is between the two of them. In the opera, Elektra is seeking to avenge the murder of her father, Agamemnon, by Klytämnestra, who was settling accounts with her husband for sacrificing their daughter Iphigenia-just your typical dysfunctional family.
Rosalind Plowright, a Brit knighted by the Queen of England in 2007 for exemplary service to music, will sing the role of Klytämnestra in Seattle Opera's upcoming production of "Elektra." This is the mezzo-soprano's Seattle Opera debut and her first real run at Klytämnestra.
The strikingly statuesque 59-year-old was actually working on the role about a year ago for a production to be performed in Greece, in ancient Mycenae where the opera is set. Although the production's funding fell through, learning the part that far ahead gave Plowright a leg up on Seattle Opera's production.
"It's very scary music," Plowright said. "You are not getting any help from the orchestra because in places the music is so dissonant."
Working on the role well in advance gave Plowright such a strong foundation she plans to do the same future difficult parts. Of course, there's much more to creating a role, including rehearsing with the director and conductor, plus training on one's own.
"I have worked a great deal with a coach and accompanist so I can get used to singing against the instrumentation," she said.
Plowright appreciates the way Strauss' music supports Hugo von Hofmannsthal's libretto and the singer's ability to create a character.
"The words so relate to the music. Klytämnestra can't quite describe the terrible feeling she has in words. The dissonance of the music helps. It evokes that emotion in me."
Words get more attention from Plowright these days, so she is particularly relishing her role in "Elektra."
"This is the closest thing to a Shakespearean speech I've had, and I love Shakespeare. It happens a lot in Strauss."
One of a growing number of sopranos becoming mezzo-sopranos rather than end their careers as their voices change, Plowright feels the move has brought her more interesting roles like Klytämnestra.
"As a soprano, the roles were lighter, joyful, all about 'my hero.' Then I went into a more interesting soprano repertoire like 'Medea,' another murderous mother. Now my line is demented mothers," Plowright jokes.
Although Plowright enjoys her "demented mother" roles, they initially gave her son and daughter pause.
"When I did my last Medea in Athens in '95, my children were horrified that my character was axing up her boys. In 'Il Travotore,' I was a mother who threw her own child into the fire. These were not very reassuring to my children."
Plowright moved into the mezzo-soprano repertoire about 10 years ago after hormonal effects of childbearing and menopause gradually lowered her voice. Down-to-earth and un-divaish, Plowright is pragmatic about impact on her career.
"My voice shows no signs of slowing down, and there are singers in their 60s and 70s still singing this repertoire. I've no intention of stopping."
Seattle Opera's "Elektra" plays at Marion Oliver McCaw Hall, 321 Mercer St., Saturday, Oct. 18 through Saturday, Nov. 1. Prices: $25-$165. Tickets/information: 389-7676, HYPERLINK "http://www.seattleopera.org" www.seattleopera.org.
Freelance writer Maggie Larrick lives in the Seattle area and is the former editor of the News.
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