[Gergiev] conveys passions and tensions with compelling, sometimes deafening power...[Charbonnet is] strongly involved without, thankfully, overplaying the weirdness...[Palmer's Klytaemnestra is] the real star of this show, slicing through Gergiev's sound-wall with incisive diction and keen characterisation: she's neurotic, malevolent but far from the conventional Germanic witch. Ian Storey makes Aegisth's few lines at once fatuous and menacing.

Gergiev has the LSO sailing through metre- and key-changes with almost effortless fluidity, and Strauss's dramaturgical acumen has never seemed clearer...Charbonnet generates plenty of manic excitement with her ultra-aggressive vibrato but...there are many signs of considerable theatrical intelligence; at times her conviction triumphs over her own voice...Goerne is the one vocal marvel here: his Orestes has nobility and morality

one feels a distinct frisson with the arrival of Klytaemnestra...Caricature is totally eschewed; however tortured Klytaemnestra may be, Palmer maintains an innate regality in her vocal presence...[Goerne's] text is penetratingly delivered...Storey offers a heroic voice as Aegisthus, for a change, with all the notes truly sounded...One can tell that the LSO rejoices in playing this music...Any Elektra enthusiast will want to hear Goerne and the magnificent Palmer.

I loved [Charbonnet's] take on the title role. She sounds truly unhinged at times...Palmer puts in a suitably malevolent turn as Elektra’s mother, Klytaemnestra...This is certainly the best-played Elektra I can think of, with blistering trumpets fearless in their high register, and much impressive detail in the woodwind.

This exciting reading is worth a try, if not a classic

Gergiev grasps the Wagnerian intensity of the score, also capturing the Straussian extremist tendencies with thrilling impact. Thrusting playing by the LSO helps.

Gothic glory lies in the London Symphony Orchestra’s playing: visceral in impact, full of details usually lost in an opera house pit...Charbonnet doesn’t have enough heft at the top for the increasingly unhinged Elektra: the compensation comes in her commitment and passion.

if vocal discipline is not Charbonnet’s strong suit that may be a virtue in this role...It is difficult to find any faults in Felicity Palmer’s classic Klytämnestra...she is always scrupulously musical and no thoughts of caricature invade one’s attention...[Storey creates] an individual sound for the character of Ägisthus..[Goerne] falls not far short of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau in establishing a dark, mysterious presence at his entry