An operatic blood bath

operA | Elektra Jan. 26 to Feb. 22, Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts

Richard Strauss’s one-act opera, a contender for the bloodiest ever written, has provoked debate since it first premiered in Dresden more than a century ago. Distilled from Greek tragedy, the plot is like something out of a slasher film. At its centre is an extraordinarily dysfunctional family in which two siblings seek vengeance against their mother and her new lover for killing their father. The performance features five main characters, their voices up against a booming orchestra. (At rehearsals, Strauss is said to have asked for more volume, claiming he could still hear the singer.) Soprano Christine Goerke brings the hate-filled title character to life with such believable vehemence that she almost has you cheering her on.