This week, the Teatro Verdi Trieste is set to present Strauss’ masterwork “Elektra” with two different casts. The opera is known for its demanding roles especially the title character, requiring a soprano with immense stamina. For this run, the company has brought two of the great interpreters of the role including Diana Lamar.

The production in Trieste will mark her seventh production of “Elektra” following productions in Mexico, South Korea, Germany, and Italy.

Before her performances in Trieste, OperaWire had a chance to speak with Lamar about the role in a short interview.

OperaWire: How has Elektra developed over the years?

Diana Lamar: Elektra is one of those rare roles that seems to grow alongside the artist. In my case, there is also a very personal connection: I made my operatic debut singing Elektra at the age of 30, so in many ways she has been with me for my entire professional life. Because of that, singing her has always felt remarkably natural. She was not a role I grew into after years of singing other repertoire—she was there at the very beginning, and we have evolved together. When I first approached her, I was drawn primarily to the sheer force of her obsession and the extraordinary vocal and dramatic demands Strauss places on the singer. Over time, however, I have become increasingly fascinated by her humanity.

What has changed most for me is the understanding that Elektra is not simply a figure of vengeance. She is a woman trapped in grief, unable to move forward because her entire identity has become bound to the memory of her father. The older I get, the more I see the fragility beneath the ferocity. Her rage is only one layer; underneath it are loneliness, longing, and even a desperate hope. Musically, I also continue to discover new colours in the score. Strauss wrote an astonishing psychological landscape, and each return to the role reveals details that I hadn’t fully appreciated before. The journey has been less about making Elektra larger and more dramatic, and more about making her more complex and more human. Perhaps that is why the role continues to feel so alive to me. Because I began my career with Elektra, she has become almost a lifelong companion—one who continues to reveal new truths every time I return to her.

OW: What are the biggest challenges of doing “Elektra?”

DL: The obvious challenge is the scale of the role. It is one of the most demanding parts in the repertoire, requiring tremendous stamina, concentration, and emotional commitment from beginning to end. But for me, the greatest challenge is balancing intensity with control. Elektra lives in a state of almost unbearable emotional pressure, yet the singer cannot allow that emotional extremity to compromise the vocal line. Strauss’s writing is incredibly sophisticated, and even in the most explosive moments the voice must remain free and expressive.

The other challenge is psychological. Elektra spends much of the opera isolated from the world around her. She is consumed by a single idea, and sustaining that level of focus and inner tension for an entire evening requires a great deal of discipline. The audience must feel that every thought, every word, and every silence comes from a deeply lived inner reality.

OW: How do you keep the role fresh vocally and as a character after so many productions?

DL: I think the key is remembering that no two performances are ever truly the same. Every production, conductor, orchestra, cast, and theatre changes the experience. Those differences continually reveal new aspects of the work.

Vocally, I try to approach the score with curiosity rather than habit. Strauss’s music is so rich that there is always another phrase to shape, another colour to explore, another dynamic relationship to discover. The challenge is to stay present and responsive rather than relying on what worked before.

As a character, I never want Elektra to become a collection of familiar gestures. I try to return to her circumstances each time and ask very simple questions: What does she want in this moment? What is she afraid of? What is she hoping for? If those questions remain alive, the performance remains alive as well.

In many ways, experience doesn’t close possibilities—it opens them. The more years I spend with Elektra, the more layers I find.

OW: What is your favorite moment in the role?

DL: Without question, the recognition scene with Orest is one of the most extraordinary moments in all opera. After so much darkness, suspicion, and isolation, there is suddenly a moment of genuine human connection. For the first time, Elektra allows herself to hope. The emotional release Strauss creates there is overwhelming, both musically and dramatically.

What I love most is that the scene reveals a completely different side of her. The warrior, the avenger, the woman consumed by grief—all of that falls away for a moment, and we see a daughter and a sister. It reminds us that beneath the mythic dimensions of the character is a profoundly human being.

For me, that moment contains the heart of the entire opera. It is the brief glimpse of love and belonging that makes everything else so tragic and so powerful.

Recording

You can listen to portions of Lamar’s “Elektra” here from the Palacio de Bellas Artes.