Elektra [play]
by Hugo von Hofmannsthal
On This Page
Description
Hugo von Hofmannsthal: Elektra. Trag die in einem Aufzug frei nach Sophokles - Entstanden 1903. Erstdruck: Berlin (S. Fischer) 1904. Urauff hrung am 25.1.1903 in Dresden (K nigliches Opernhaus). Vollst ndige Neuausgabe mit einer Biographie des Autors. Herausgegeben von Karl-Maria Guth. Berlin 2013. Textgrundlage ist die Ausgabe: Hugo von Hofmannsthal: Gesammelte Werke in zehn Einzelb nden. Band 1: Gedichte, Dramen, Band 2-5: Dramen, Herausgegeben von Bernd Schoeller in Beratung mit Rudolf show more Hirsch, Frankfurt a.M.: S. Fischer, 1979. Die Paginierung obiger Ausgabe wird in dieser Neuausgabe als Marginalie zeilengenau mitgef hrt. Umschlaggestaltung von Thomas Schultz-Overhage unter Verwendung des Bildes: Hugo von Hofmannsthal (Fotografie von Nicola Perscheid, um 1910). Gesetzt aus Minion Pro, 11 pt. show lessTags
Recommendations
Member Reviews
Plot:
After Agamemnon returned from the Trojan war, his wife Klytaemnestra and her lover Aegith killed him and took over power. Their children survived: Orest was hidden and raised to avenge his father's death, Chrysothemis tried to keep her head down and just survive, and Elektra devoted her time to remembering her father and dreaming of revenge. But now it appears that Orest has died in his exile without being able to fulfill his duty and Elektra has to see what she can do about that.
Elektra is an interesting play, but one that isn't easily read - I would like to see it performed to see if I would react differently to it. (I'm not sure if I would enjoy the opera version, though.)
Read more on my blog: show more target="_top">https://kalafudra.com/2019/01/07/elektra-hugo-von-hofmannsthal/ show less
After Agamemnon returned from the Trojan war, his wife Klytaemnestra and her lover Aegith killed him and took over power. Their children survived: Orest was hidden and raised to avenge his father's death, Chrysothemis tried to keep her head down and just survive, and Elektra devoted her time to remembering her father and dreaming of revenge. But now it appears that Orest has died in his exile without being able to fulfill his duty and Elektra has to see what she can do about that.
Elektra is an interesting play, but one that isn't easily read - I would like to see it performed to see if I would react differently to it. (I'm not sure if I would enjoy the opera version, though.)
Read more on my blog: show more target="_top">https://kalafudra.com/2019/01/07/elektra-hugo-von-hofmannsthal/ show less
Ratings
Members
- Recently Added By
Lists
Agamemnon's legacy
38 works; 4 members
Author Information
Hofmannsthal's plays are all written in verse, and most are modernized adaptations from other dramatists. His masterpiece, Electra (1903), was set to music by Richard Strauss. Dramas such as Jedermann (1911) and The Tower (1925, o.p.) showed him to be a serious and responsible social critic: their "deep symbolism is pervaded by an uncanny insight show more into the demonic forces and potentialities of our century" (LJ). With Max Reinhardt, Hofmannsthal helped to found the Salzburg Festival of music and theater, which is still an annual event. He also collaborated successfully with Strauss, despite their divergent personalities and mutually preferred habit of working at a distance, through the mails. Hofmannsthal wrote the libretti for Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier, Ariadne auf NaxosDer Rosenkavalier, Ariadne auf Naxos, and Die Frau ohne Schatten. In his poetry, almost all written in his early twenties, Hofmannsthal proved himself to be the most socially sensitive of the Viennese poets of the 1890s. A traditionalist writing in an era of experimentation, he wrote meditations on the theme of transience, noted for their elevated diction and technical perfection. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Some Editions
Series
Belongs to Publisher Series
Sammlung Hofenberg (Hofmannsthal)
Reclams Universal-Bibliothek (1811)
Work Relationships
Has as a student's study guide
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Elektra [play]
- Original publication date
- 1904
- Original language
- German
- Disambiguation notice
- 3150181135 Reclam
Hofmannsthal wrote the play Elektra in 1904, then adapted it as the libretto for Richard Strauss's opera in 1909. This work contains, as best as can be determined, the play not the libretto.
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 55
- Popularity
- 555,349
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (3.43)
- Languages
- English, German, Italian
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 8
- ASINs
- 2
