“…when Herod’s birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced before the company, and she pleased Herod so much that he promised on oath to grant her whatever she might ask. Prompted by her mother, she said, ‘Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter.’ The king was grieved, yet out of regard for his oaths and for the guests, he commanded it to be given; he sent and had John beheaded in the prison. The head was brought on a platter a given to the girl, who brought it to her mother.” (Matthew 14:6 – 11)
“When his daughter Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests; and the king said to the girl, ‘Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it.’ And he solemnly swore to her, ‘Whatever you ask me, I will give you, even half of my kingdom.’ She went out and said to her mother, ‘What should I ask for?” She replied, ‘The head of John the baptizer.’ Immediately she rushed back to the king and requested, ‘I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.’ The king was deeply grieved; yet out of regard for his oaths and for the guests, he did not want to refuse her. Immediately the king sent a soldier of the guard with orders to bring John’s head. He went and beheaded him in the prison, brought his head on a platter, and give it to the girl. Then the girl gave it to her mother. (Mark 6: 22 – 28)
There seemed to be general agreement between the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Mark regarding the death of John the Baptist. The daughter of Herodias was not even named in the Gospels but was named by Josephus in the Jewish Antiquities (18.5.4) But from these few lines in the bible, Oscar Wilde was inspired to create the staged drama with the “daughter of Herodias” as the central character.
Seattle Opera’s latest production of Richard Strauss’ Salome was an absolute triumph, musically as well as dramatically. My only quibble was with the updating of the staging, with Herod’s “palace” a giant grey wall curving upwards, creating a feeling of a prison rather than a palace, and with Herod’s soldiers wearing military fatigues and carrying machine guns, details that do not agree with the dialogue of the story. My own reading of the stage design is that it represents the main characters trapped within their own obsessions or sins, for isn’t sin the act of us caving in on ourselves, excluding God from our lives? Perhaps the idea was that all these principal characters were trapped within their own obsessions, and unable to escape?
The principal voices were uniformly outstanding – an excellent choice in casting. Chad Shelton’s Herod and Jennifer Johnson Cano’s Herodias – vocal parts that pose considerably challenge - were well-matched with each other. Michael Kupfer-Radecky’s Jochanaan carried dignity and authority. Even the ensembles of Jews created an excellent ensemble in their brief scene.
Brenda Rae’s Salome was of course the focal point of the evening, and she deserved every bit of the ovation following the performance. Vocally strong, her vocal lines effortlessly soared over the enormous sounds of the orchestra. Her confrontation scene with Jochanaan was electrifying as she enticed him into submitting to her. Hers was certainly not the innocent young girl unaware of her seductive power, and who was only doing the bidding of her mother, but a young woman completely cognizant of the power of her sexuality, which makes the suicide of Narraboth – wonderfully sung and acted by Joseph Tancredi - more logical; he was simply driven mad by Salome’s depravity.
Salome’s Dance of the Seven Veils was as sensual and erotic as could be, even without the striptease, and her final scene with Jochanaan was as degenerate and twisted as could be imagined – a very warped version of Isolde’s Liebestod – a stunning portrayal of her descent from fascination to obsession to madness. The orchestra responded with a performance of the dance that matched the main character’s sinuousness and sensuality.
In spite of the staging, the lighting by Malcolm Rippeth suitably highlighted the darkness of the drama. I did wish that the moon would have been more prominently featured, as it plays such a central thematic role in the drama. The monochromatically lit stage certainly highlighted the blood-soaked whiteness of Salome’s garment. A large pool of water in center stage was also made to effective use – during Salome’s dance as well as in the scene where the Jews debated whether the Messiah had come upon them, most notably.
Conductor Benjamin Manis led members of the Seattle Symphony in a ravishing reading of Strauss’ colourful score, with outstanding solo playing from every department of the ensemble, especially the woodwinds. For my taste, he could have “pushed” the aggression in the music even further without risking being excessive.
Even given all that we are constantly exposed to in the arts and in popular culture today, Strauss’ Salome can, given the right performance, still give us a jolt and a shock. We can be grateful to Seattle Opera for lavishing the resources it obviously did into this production. The company presented Strauss’ Daphne, albeit in concert performance only, in the previous season, not a piece that is done in very many opera houses.
Perhaps we can now dare to hope for other performances of Richard Strauss, maybe an Elektra; and it has been many years since we saw a Rosenkavalier. Maybe Seattle can become the Strauss capital of the U.S., just as it became a mecca for Wagner under the late Speight Jenkins?
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