Malcolm Arnold

Malcolm Arnold's ballet in one act Electra is presented here as a full study score. Based on a reduced version of Sophocles' play Arnold's ballet was commissioned by the Royal Ballet and first performed at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden on the 26th of March 1963. Electra lasts around 15 minutes and was given its first concert performance by the BBC Concert Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall in London conducted by Barry Wordsworth on the 5th of November 2004. For this full score Arnold adopted the normal anglicised spelling of Electra  however the firstperformance had it billed in the original spelling of Elektra as in the more famous opera by Richard Strauss.  The ballet is exciting dynamic and dark making for a wonderful performance that's as compelling as it is enjoyable. The power of the music married with the intense percussion in Electra are fitting for such a classically tragic tale.