Oscar Wilde describes his Salomé as containing “refrains whose
recurring motifs make it so like a piece of music and bind it together
as a ballad.” In his opera adaptation of Wilde’s play, the backbone of
Richard Strauss’ opulent setting is a series of densely woven
leitmotifs, which elaborate the relationship between Herodias’ daughter
and the prophet Jochanaan. In Gabriele Lavia’s triumphant 2010 Bologna
production, the linking of Salome’s naive insouciance, sexual obsession
and cruelty as portrayed by Erika Sunnegårdh is also subtly refl ected
in the scenic representation. Under the musical direction of
internationally acclaimed conductor Nicola Luisotti, the stellar cast
of experienced singers including Mark S. Doss as Jochanaan, Robert
Brubaker as Herodes and Dalia Schaechter as Herodias give an energetic
performance of Strauss’ early masterpiece.
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