El Corte Inglés Málaga hosts on Friday, 7 August at 18:30 hours a new session of the “Hablando de Ópera” (VII) cycle, dedicated to the presentation and screening of Elektra (1909) by Richard Strauss, one of the most decisive works of early 20th‑century musical and cultural rupture.

This selected version features an exceptional cast: Evelyn Herlitzius, Waltraud Meier, Adrianne Pieczonka, Mikhail Petrenko and Tom Randle, in a production directed by the legendary Patrice Chéreau, with the Orchestre de Paris conducted by Esa‑Pekka Salonen. Running time: 110 minutes. Cycle direction: Lourdes Jiménez, Doctor in Art History and cultural manager.

When Strauss premiered Elektra in Dresden in 1909, Europe was experiencing an intense cultural upheaval: Freud had just published his research on the unconscious, Klimt was painting his most unsettling works, and music was definitively abandoning Romanticism. The opera no longer presents idealised heroes; instead, it confronts us with human beings already shattered. Patrice Chéreau understood that the true tragedy of Elektra is not the murder of Clytemnestra, but the fact that all the characters are spiritually dead before the opera even begins.

These aspects — and others related to the staging — will be explored before viewing this historic production by the great French director.

The event will be presented by the cycle’s director, Lourdes Jiménez.