Salome

Richard Strauss composed his opera Salome in 1905, basing it on the scandalous fin-de-siècle drama of the same name by Oscar Wilde. The world premiere brought him his first international success: the one-act work remains one of the most frequently performed operas in the repertoire today. It combines grand orchestral frenzy and gripping vocal drama with the story of a desirous young woman whose story has fascinated humankind for two thousand years.
Salome’s first appearance was in the Bible: The myth of Herod’s daughter, who has the severed head of John the Baptist presented to her in return for an erotic dance, is constantly being reworked, layered with new interpretations and fantasies. In Andreas Homoki’s production, Salome is a young woman hungry for experience who can no longer bear the claustrophobic, prison-like family home to which the Herod clan has retreated in order to defy the gathering storms of a religious and political turning point. Salome’s is fascinated by the prophet Jochanaan, who makes hate speeches about her family's decadence. In Homoki's production, he is not an ascetic in a harsh robe but a radical fundamentalist to whose virile, seductive, erotic power Salome succumbs. But Jochanaan’s curses are likewise desperate attempts to fend off Salome’s feminine allure, which he is unable to resist. Our revival is sung by the same duo that delighted audiences and critics in the premiere series: Russian soprano Elena Stikhina credibly embodies the princess’s radical youthfulness and at the same time has the artistic maturity to master the enormous vocal challenges of Strauss's monstrous role. Lithuanian bass-baritone Kostas Smoriginas brings with him the expressive masculine energy that characterizes Jochanaan in this production.