New on CDs: Operas From Gershwin to Verdi

STRAUSS: “Elektra.” Hildegard Behrens, Nadine Secunde, Christa Ludwig, Ragnar Ulfung, Jorma Hynninen; Tanglewood Festival Chorus; Boston Symphony Orchestra conducted by Seiji Ozawa. Philips 422 574-2 (two compact discs). That rarest of recordings, a surpassing performance of the Strauss-Hoffmannsthal 1908 one-act Greco-Expressionist shocker, eludes the grasp here. Two singers excel. Behrens’ vividly obsessed Elektra lacks nothing in histrionic subtlety or vocal charisma, barring a dry lower range, where the character needs all the projective power it can get. Veteran mezzo Ludwig prefers to sing rather than cackle or croon Klytam-estra’s scene. Secunde’s abundantly promising soprano does not yield a Chrysothemis under any noticeable control. Hynninen’s enlightened baritone misses force at the climax of the Orest-Elektra duet. Ulfung is a stock Aegisth. Ozawa, alas, permits all the standard theatrical cuts and favors lyricism over drama. The recording, made during a live performance in 1988 in Boston Symphony Hall, is satisfactory.