Blood is gushing forth in the barrack square.
Elektra is biding her time.
Enormous steel giants are rising.
Elektra curses her mother.
A forest is set on fire at Umestan.
Elektra demands revenge!

NorrlandsOperan and the dramatic art collective La Fura Dels Baus are creating a monumental outdoor performance of Richard Strauss’ one-act opera.

Cranes, mechanical giants with singers standing inside their chests, skips filled with blood. Elektra is NorrlandsOperan’s biggest ever production. The opera is based on the ancient myth about the woman who does everything in her power to revenge the murder of her father Agamemnon.

The stage is two hundred metres long, and will be erected at the old military command centre Umestan near the heart of Umeå city. The contours of the dead King in his grave can be seen all over the area. The grandstand can hold two thousand spectators, and also represents the palace in which Elektra’s dysfunctional family (to put it mildly) live with their servants.

The music is powerful and expressive. At the first performance in 1909, the audience felt ready to faint as they rushed out of the opera house. Strauss’ courage inspires La Fura dels Baus in their staging of Elektra’s wrath and vindictiveness.

The West Bothnian twilight is the perfect background for the burning forest and the river of blood.  NorrlandsOperan’s Symphony Orchestra, the soloists and the extras whose bodies help breathe life into the steel giants, the hundreds of people working behind the scenes, and – last but not least – the audience all contribute to making this a historic performance. In Umeå, 2014.

ARTISTIC TEAM
Conductor: Rumon Gamba
Artistic concept: Carlus Padrissa*
Director: Carlus Padrissa*
Choreography: Mireia Romero*
Costumes, make-up & props: Clara Sullà*
Pyrotechnics: Thomas Bautenbacher*
Sound design: Lars Wern

Produced by La Fura dels Baus and NorrlandsOperan

SOLOISTS
Ingela Brimberg – Elektra
Susanna Levonen – Chrysothemis, Elektra’s sister
Ingrid Tobiasson – Klytaemnestra, mother
Thomas Lander – Orestes, brother
Magnus Kyhle – Aegisthus
Lennart Forsén – Tutor / An old servant
Karin Andersson – Confidante / Fifth maid
Sara Olsson – Trainbearer / Fourth maid
Niklas Björlig Rygert – A young servant
Anneli Lindfors – Overseer
Katarina Leoson – Third maid
Agneta Lundgren – Second maid
Margaretha Dahlhamn – First maid

NorrlandsOperan’s Symphony Orchestra and guest artists.

The production comprises 73 musicians and a large number of extras. When Elektra is performed in Umeå in 2014, it will be the first  open-air performance of the opera in this format.

La Fura dels Baus 
The Catalan dramatic art collective La Fura dels Baus (The Polecat from Les Baux-de-Provence) was founded in 1979 and has its artistic roots in urban street performances. The collective experienced an international breakthrough when they staged the opening ceremony of the Barcelona Olympic Games in 1992. Ever since, they have continued to create spectacular artistic projects around the globe. Every production places great emphasis on the architecture of the performance site, and the performances are staged in close collaboration with local actors and residents. Here is one example.

In collaboration with Kungliga Operan

With support from Umeå 2014 and the Swedish Arts Council
Main sponsor: Balticgruppen
In cooperation with Lerstenen

In special collaboration with:  

Blood is gushing forth in the barrack square. Elektra is biding her time.