Christopher Nolan’s film The Odyssey carries a content warning for “strong violence and intense mythological horror”, but even its goriest scenes do not match the mythological horror Richard Strauss produced nearly 120 years earlier in Elektra, whose special effects are confined to the 111-piece orchestra. The heckelphones, basset horns and Wagner tubas Strauss adds to an already outsized band makes staging Elektra unfeasible for all but the best-resourced companies. But the extraordinary colours he draws from the orchestra and the storytelling he entrusts to it make concert performances particularly rewarding.
The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra played Strauss’s most dissonant score with relish, responsive to Karina Canellakis’s efficient, economical gestures. Brutal climaxes were suitably overwhelming, but equally striking was the refined string sound in occasional moments of repose. Clarity was exceptional, as whips crackled, flutes fluttered and trombones groaned; balance almost always excellent.
