The DVD of the Elektra opera, performed at the Aix-en-Provence Festival two years ago, featuring the participation of the Gulbenkian Choir, has won the Gramophone magazine award. The version published by Bel Air Classiques, performed last year at the Foundation, was ranked by critics as the best of 2014.

Elektra, by Richard Strauss, was the last performance staged by the French director Patrice Chéreau (1966-2013) and counted on the musical direction of Esa-Pekka Salonen conducting the Paris Orchestra. The role of Elektra was handed to Evelyn Herlitzius, with Adrianne Pieczonka and Waltraud Meier performing Chrysotemis and Klytämnestra, respectively. The participation of the Gulbenkian Choir in this opera extended to the onstage presence of four of its singers. Two sopranos and two contraltos appear in the film in the first and third acts, in contrast to the remainder of the Choir that performs off-camera.

In this edition of the Gramophone Awards, Maria João Pires was the winner in the Concert categories, with her recording of Concerts no. 3 and no. 4 by Beethoven with the Radio Sweden Symphony Orchestra and the British maestro Daniel Harding. The pianist won out against star names in the classical world, including the Norwegian pianist Leif Ove Andsnes, who will be bringing his talent to the Foundation’s Grand Auditorium on December 6th.