These are some press comments on Strauss' "Elektra" at the Norwegian Opera, Oslo, May 2009:

... Apart from Resmark there is a special Swedish interest in Patrik Ringborg, who gallantly controls the huge orchestra. The result is suggestive and forceful. Under the direction of Ringborg the whole house is breathing Elektra, and that he never allows the music to come in second hand gives you goose pimples of joyful satisfaction. The music claims its space but always attuned with the singers. It pulsates wonderfully between the delicate and the bombastic like the hub of a paradox. My words aren't enough, but Elektra sums it up in a good way: 'Schweig, und tanze. Alle müssen herbei!'
(Tidskriften Opera, 07.2009)

You can expect the best from the Staatskapelle Berlin, and indeed you get it: A mighty, incarnadine orchestral sound. But this is the case in Oslo as well, where Patrik Ringborg makes the Orchestra of the Norwegian Opera sound like a thoroughbred Strauss orchestra. An impressive achievement.
(Vårt Land, 09.06.2009)

The major part of the action takes part between these so different characters. They are forcefully embraced by a large orchestra, offering a music that is everything but puritanical. The over 100 musicians in the pit create a dense sound and under the conductor Patrik Ringborg the score sounds intense - in the victoriously jubilant sections, in the more sparse and vulnerable moments, as well as in the remaining, deliciously nuanced portrayals of strong humans.
(Dagsavisen, 06.06.2009)

... Patrik Ringborg controls the huge masses of sound from the pit.
... A production like this one lets us sense which formidable power music is when it goes inside the drama and emphasizes it. The dramatic music becomes a dimension in its own right and deeply penetrates our soul. It tears us apart inside and creates a chaos in our feelings. Without it the drama never would have had this effect on us: It reinforces and clarifies and thus this production importantly proves the strong position of the opera as artform.
The sounds are expressive, expressionistic, crass and shrill. No bel canto and beautiful arias in this short performance, lasting under two hours. But quite simply dramatical music, employed with the giant grasp of a musical master. Brilliant! Shocking!
The theme is also characterized by its times which expresses themselves in the music. It is an era of disbandment of standards, Freud's psycho analysis and of women in mental insurgence. All this is reflected in the music. It is like experiencing The Scream by Munch in the musical world. ... Already at the start with the maids almost screaming about Elektras 'madness' is the musical expression strong, and these are no easy tasks, even if the parts may seem minor. We may not forget the efforts of over 100 musicians in the mighty orchestra in the pit! Here the orchestra and the acoustics provide for best results. What a sound!
(Kulturspeijlet, 30.05.2009)

Patrik Ringborg conducted an eager orchestra eagerly.
(LA Times, 03.06.2009)

... the auditorium shows itself at its best in the rich sound.
Gigantic orchestra
The pit has room for a huge orchestra with 103 musicians. The composer a.o. uses eight clarinets and a lot of other wind players. Much of the action takes place in the orchestra, and score presents and deepens the characters in a virtuoso manner.
The Swedish conductor Patrik Ringborg gets the best from the vibrant orchestra in the many fierce and nuanced cues. ... It is an enormously rich score combined with an intense, almost hysteric action - expressionist opera at its wildest.
(NRK, 08.06.2009)

The gigantic orchestra with 103 musicians sends a flawless sound from the pit.
(Verldens Gang, 30.05.2009)

The orchestra was the most interesting part of the performance I visited. The conductor Patrik Ringborg unfolded the complexity of the score, and the orchestra answered with radiant playing.
(Med andre ord, 07.06.2009)

The orchestra with over a hundred musicians creates an electrifying, densely woven, sound and lets the motifs follow the mental of the characters. ... But the orchestra lets her [Elektra] through, and throughout paints the extreme contrasts of Strauss' music in an exemplary way.
(Aftenposten, 11.06.2009)

Richard Strauss' tragic opera Elektra in Oslo is a co-production with the Deutsche Oper am Rhein and as far as the music is concerned it has turned out a magnificent experience, placing the Norwegian National Opera high in the ranking of international opera. ... Leading the very large orchestra of the Norwegian Opera was conductor Patrik Ringborg. ... The orchestra played superbly, the singers sang splendidly: this was an event on the highest possible level. BRAVO.
(Kulturkompasset, 10.06.2009)

Intense Elektra in Oslo
Musical drama in the true sense of the word can be experienced at the Oslo Opera in two remaining performances this early summer, then the last opera on the main stage in this season is Richard Strauss' Elektra from 1909. It is an example of how the new Norwegian opera house attracts international stars, among others the Swedes Patrik Ringborg and Susanne Resmark, embodying the Queen Klytämnestra in this co-operation with Deutsche Oper am Rhein. ...
The orchestra of the Opera under Patrik Ringborg's baton is the equivalent to the character of Elektra, with total presence and indomitable power in all situations the performance throughout.
(Bohusläningen, 10.06.2009)

Back to the page with press comments