An imaginary portrait of composer Richard Strauss.
Recorded live at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London on 2 June 1992.
Richard Strauss' classic opera version of the ancient Greek tragedy about the princess Elektra, who dreams of avenging her father Agamemnon's murder by his wife Clytemnestra and her lover.
This filmed version of Strauss' shocker features Teresa Stratas as opera's most depraved teenager, and she's as perfect a Salome as one would ever hope to see or hear. Stratas inhabits the role, exploring the character's sensuousness as she vainly woos Jochanaan, her venomous hatred when she's rejected, the crazed look in her eyes when she demands his head--on a silver platter, no less. Such complete identification with a role, especially of a character so malignant helps make this 1974 Salome stand out among the many fine DVDs of the opera.