Hildegard Behrens
1937-2009
Her Life Affirming Art
One of the best memories of my life was when I attended a performance of “Elektra” at the Metropolitan Opera with Hildegard Behrens in the title role. The opera is performed in one act with no intermissions, each note building to the amazing dramatic ending where Elektra, in sheer redemptive bliss, drops dead. Ms. Behrens not only embodied that sentiment with her acting which immersed herself fully as the tragic heroine and voice that was a beacon of sound perfect for Strauss, but with a physical stamina of a decathalete as well. For as the Met Opera Orchestra boomed the triumphant chords reflecting Elektra’s ecstatic joy upon hearing of the death of her mother, "Hildy" lost all abandon and proceeded to use every part of her body as she stomped into a Victory Dance that was so demanding and COMMITTED, one could see how with each blissful stomp Elektra would sacrifice a beat of her living soul, rendering her lifeless on the very last note.
The Met, being THE greatest stage on the globe, like every opera they perform had their massive golden curtain close to completion with the exact same precision as Maestro Levine was conducting the final beat of the opera and remarkably as Hildegard literally threw herself down on the ground in a heap that had completely expired with not a breath left in it. The entire audience was so completely overwhelmed by this fusion of ancient Greek tragedy, sublime singing and hyper realistic acting that there was not a sound when the curtain finally closed. The audience was still taking in everything they had witnessed with this display of artistic mastery when the curtain went up with another pause of silence.
A single spotlight proceeded to shine on Ms. Behrens who stood on the massive stage, alone.
Another pause. I must add that I was very close to the stage on the far left hand side of the theater. After the delayed pause with the audience finally realizing that not only had a spotlight gone on but that one of the greatest interpreters of “Elektra” was before us, a ROAR of sound occurred, made by hundreds of people regaining their knowledge of where they were. The audience began to howlingly scream and applaud as if desperate to make up for lost time. This delayed reaction must have come down on Ms. Behrens like a stimulus of blaring shock, because from my viewpoint, I literally saw her wince and jolt backwards. She was literally taken aback; not expecting the audience to so fiercely show their thanks and pleasure to her on such a primal level!
The din remained consistently strong in volume for at least the next 4 minutes, which in applause time is seemingly never ending. Ms. Behrens smiled, bowed and when there showed no signs of the audience decreasing their frenzied pitch of praise for her, the great soprano lowered her head. When she lifted her visage back to the audience, displaying that ever beaming smile which in itself was famous, there were tears streaming down Hildegard's face. She cried tears of uncontrollable joy which made me, in turn, involuntarily weep while applauding as hard as I could and cheering with all my vocal might!
I truly felt human during those glorious moments. As a member of that performance’s audience, we were acknowledging Art itself and that moments such as these are the things that make us write poetry, sing operas, and believe in God.
Perpetual light shine upon you Hildegard, and I thank you very deeply for giving me that precious gift in time that I will carry with me as one of my most treasured possessions.
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