BBC SSO at Edinburgh International Festival 2026 EIF: Canellakis conducts Strauss’s Elektra

Greek tragedy meets modern psychology in Richard Strauss’s audacious opera.

Elektra is determined to avenge the murder of her father Agamemnon by her mother Klytämnestra – but will Klytämnestra destroy her first?

Strauss evokes his characters’ larger-than-life emotions through massive orchestral forces and daring harmonies. Wild, violent episodes such as the epic confrontation between Elektra and her mother contrast with moments of exquisite tenderness, as when Agamemnon’s son Orest returns to this most dysfunctional of family homes.

Karina Canellakis – noted for her impressive ‘command of large-scale musical architecture’ (The Guardian) – conducts the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and an outstanding cast. Leading dramatic sopranos Iréne Theorin and Nina Stemme perform the virtuoso roles of Elektra and Klytämnestra.

Sung in German with English surtitles.