Elektra

Elektra by Frank Miller Omnibus
$74.99
B E S T C O M I C B O O K E V E R

But what they don't tell you in the reviews is that this Elektra graphic novel comes with three other comic book stories that involve Elektra. Two out of the three short stories don't really matter, but the third comic book that is included is 'Elektra Lives Again' by Frank Miller. If I hadn't read this edition of 'Elektra:Assasin' I would of bought 'Elektra Lives Again' separately.

R. Strauss - Elektra
$39.98
If you love Elektra, and can afford more than one recording/video, this is certainly worth owning. Rysanek is as good as other reviewers have noted, as is Varnay (I have the recording of her own Elektra; absolutely incredible singing), and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau is, well, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau.

I have two issues with this film, however. The first is the lip-syncing, which I find very distracting. It is inexplicable to me that they did this; it really detracts from the experience. The second issue is with Karl Bohm. He was 87 when this film was made and died shortly afterwards. While his Straussian credentials are impeccable, I find some of this performance lacking energy, intensity, not surprising with a frail old man on the podium. For example, you ought to be ready to scream at the end, and, for me, that's not the case with this performance. Oddly, though, I find some of the accompaniment a bit insensitive in the beautiful and tender Recognition Scene. Rysanek's singing is beautiful, but Bohm and the orchestra are on the front edge of the beat in places that I feel need to breathe more. Compare this with the late, much-lamented Hildegarde Behrens and Seiji Ozawa in the recording of the fabulous concert performance with the Boston Symphony, and I think you will hear what I mean.

Strauss - Elektra
$29.98
It is absolutely shameful that reviewers here go on about the performance of Birgit Nilsson. I love many of her recordings. In her prime, she was magnificent. This is a SAD performance. Quite frankly, this is pitiful. This was a cast that was marketed on the fame and abilities of years past. Nilsson's voice is strained and off pitch (some reviewers will acknowledge this was sometimes an issue in her prime as well). The high notes are not there.

I challenge any serious critic to present this performance blindly to a listener familiar with the opera, but not necessarily the cast. With the cast being anonymous, I guarantee you this performance will be judged as being substandard.

Further, Nilsson was never a great actress. No one here can tell me that a 62 year old woman is "throwing herself" into the role.

Anyone who claims this is a magnificent performance simply calls his or her credibility into question.

Dark Reign: Elektra TPB
$16.99
She's the deadliest woman in the world... and she's never been in worse shape. Broken, beaten, and tortured by alien scientists, Elektra stumbles to freedom in the aftermath of the Skrull invasion. Now she struggles and fights to stay barely alive, and to clear her name for atrocities committed by an impostor. A lot of people want Elektra killed... and in her state, that shouldn't be too difficult! By Zeb Wells (Amazing Spider-Man) and Clay Mann (Daredevil)! Collects Dark Reign: Elektra #1-5.