Richard Strauss, Elektra at the Edinburgh International Festival

It was this performance that stood out most of all when the EIF brochure was issued last autumn. Richard Strauss’s second opera based on Sophocles and his first collaboration with Hugo von Hofmannsthal succeeded in portraying the societal turmoil of the early 20^th century through the themes of violence, patricide, and repressed sexuality.

The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra has become a highly gifted ensemble in opera, most notably in Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle under Elim Chan last season. Karina Canellakis evinced the precise structural shifts while ensuring the dramatic intensity was heard against the lyrical sections of the opera. She masterminded the huge climaxes, emphasising the brutality and excitement of the unfolding drama. 

Ingela Brimberg (in her UK debut) as Elektra was magnificent, evincing all the shades of this darkly tragic character, portraying it with both poise and determination in an amazing characterisation of magnificent stamina. Her performance was matched by Karen Cargill’s Klytaimnestra, which was equally astonishing because it was her first performance in this role. Her portrayal was magnificent, vocally and in acting.

The Chrysothemis of Vida Miknevičiuté (another UK debut), with her higher soprano, contrasted with the Elektra of Brimberg, and her characterising a woman dreaming of happiness with her lover, performed as if she had been singing this role for years. John Daszak’s Aegisth was masterly, while the Orest of Gunther Groissbock exhibited a magisterial baritone.  

This performance was spellbinding, with magnificent singing and terrific orchestral backing by the huge orchestra in every department. This was surely one of the great highlights of the 2026 Edinburgh International Festival and will be remembered by all those who were in the audience. The performance was recorded for future broadcast on BBC Radio Three.