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Richard Strauss: Salome [Remastered]

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Salome is a treacherous opera to cast, since the ideal soprano needs a voice of Wagnerian power coupled with an ability to sound sensuous and young. By common agreement the ideal portrayal came from Ljuba Welitsch, but her prime lasted little more than a decade in the late Forties and early Fifties; sadly, her legendary portrayal was never captured in the studio. Off and on I've owned all the acclaimed recordings of this garish but irresistible opera, so I thought it would be interesting to comment on them.

Solti (1962) -- A blockbuster from the day it appeared, the combination here of Solti's hyper-kinetic conducting, Nilsson's gleaming vocal command, and the Vienna Phil. in peak form has kept this set at the top for over four decades. Decca's refurbished sound is less glaring than the original ADRM release. Some may complain that Solti misses the sensuousness of the score in favor of its shockeroo sensationalism, and critics have found Nilsoon nothing like a kittensih teenage gril unleashing her sexual allure on every man in sight. Both accusations are true, yet the unrivaled impact of this version speaks for itself. As Jokanaan, Eberhard Waechter is in much better voice than in his remake ten years later.

Leinsdorf (1969) -- RCA was bucking the tide to put the bel canto specialist Monserrat Caballe up against Nilsson, but she came out very well, offering a sinuous, creamy Salome whose spoiled petulance belies the psychopathology that is to come. Sherrill Milnes isn't very Germanic, but he's in prime voice for Jokanaan. RCA's recorded sound isn't demonstration quality like the Solti but is otherwise very good. Leinsdorf conducts proficienlty, better than his usual by far. It may sound as if all the virtues of this set don't add up, but that's not true: this is a non-sensationalist reading full of color and variety, a sensual pleasure where Solti is like sticking your finger into an electrical socket. Richard Lewis stands out as a Herod who actually sings every note and never lapses into Grand Guignol.

Bohm (1972) -- Austrian Radio released this stereo broadcast of a stunning live performance from the Vienna State Opera. The chief attraction is Leonie Rysanek, who comes close to Welitsch in her ability to combine power, nuance, femininity, and psychological intensity. Yet despite an incomparable lead, Waechter sounds dry and worn out as Jokanaan, reduced to shouting much of the role (no seductiveness in the voice at all). The recorded sound is dull, turning the great Vienna pit orchestra to a blur. There is casting in depth, to be sure, among the minor players. As Herod, Hans Hopf blares away, but he has the voice to make it sound convincing. Despite raves for Bohm's conducting, I couldn't hear much of it due to the muffled sound, and in other respects I didn't detect eath-shattering inspiration from him. I realize I am among the minority here.

Karajan (1977) -- As with their respective Ring cycles, Karajan comes at Salome with orchestral refinement in mind, Solti with raw power. It would be hard to imagine a more sensuous reading of the score than is offered here, once mroe by the Vienna Phil., and yet the scary, horrifying aspects of the opera seem to be lost. Hildegard Behrens, then a fresh Karajan discovery, does a wonderufl job encompassing the title role. She's not as powerful as Nilsson or as gripping dramatically as Rysanek, but this is a very credible job, and Behrens is in perfect voice. Jose Van Dam, a Karajan favorite, doesn't quite convince as Jokanaan -- he's neither saintly nor an intimidating fanatic -- but he is never less than an exemplary singer. Overall, the totality isn't as great as the sum of the parts. Salome isn't a Greek statue to be admired for her lovely smooth proporitons.

Sinopoli (1990) -- This is essentially a cast recording from a series of performances at the Deutsch Oper in Berlin, and as such it isn't always strong in the minor parts. However, the two leads are utterly spectacular. Cheryl Studer, at the very peak of her career, won rapturous praise for her ability to combine power and youth, with many critics comparing her to Welitsch. It may be that she needed the microphone to ride over Strauss's immense orchestra at times, but that's not a flaw in the studio. Bryn Terfel is the Jokanaan of our time, incredibly charismatic here in youth but just as good for Dohnanyi later on (in both the DVD and CD versions -- Terfel holds the stage visually with his natural command). Sinopoli is at his best in Strauss, and the only real drawback is DG's somewhat diffuse sound, which doesn't balance voices and orchestra as well as it should.

Having listed the pros and cons, is there one reading that surpasses the others? For many, that would be the Solti, which is an indispensable choice no matter which other versions you own. I would rate the Sinopoli as totally satisfying, also, and I wouldn't want to miss Caballe and Rysanek in the title role. But I can understand why the live Bohm version from Vienna is so widely praised.

The sound is very vivid and immediate in this latest remastering of the classic 1961 recording, and you hear details in the exceedingly complex orchestration that you would not hear in the opera house (much better in this respect than the previous, original CD issue). Solti sounds in total command of both the sensual and visceral aspects of the work, aided by the full bodied and imposing playing of the Vienna Phil. Furthermore, the cast overall is very strong, even though Nilsson's Salome does not reach the heights of dramatic fervor that Leonie Rysenek achieved in her live recording with Bohm. Gerhard Stolze, however, really makes a meal of Herod, vividly bringing out both the character's sliminess and hysteria (only Vickers in his live recording with Kempe and Rysenek equals him, but, by contrast, conveys a more kingly imperiousness with his heroic style and sound).
Anyone who likes Salome should get this one.

This is the first opera I ever bought. I bought it as a gift to a friend of mine, who kindly invited me over his house for a week in Santander. He let me make a copy, and until now, all I had was a copy of it. Now DECCA has remastered this excellent recording and published it in the DECCA The Original Legendary Recordings collection, and I bought it.
This is one of the best opera recordings ever produced, absolutely a must in any good opera collection, an spectacular production by John Culshaw that still today stands as a role model in the recording industry. Now it is even better, since this is a remastered edition of the original tapes. Solti -who ranks among my top 5 directors of all times- conducts fiercely the Vienna Philharmonic, with amazing results: colorful and wonderful orchestral sounds, masterful companion to the singers. Birgit Nilsson achieve a great success with her interpretation of this Jewish princess, absolutely compenetrated with Solti's direction, vocally perfect and with very accurate and successful expressivity. Stolze is just right for the attractive Herodia. All of other singers are in a very good shape also. The only 'weakness' of this recording is that the powerful voice of Nilsson does not match the idea of an 'innocent' 16 year old adolescent, but that doesn't prevent this to be THE Salome to go.
Bottomline: This is a MUST in every opera collection and THE Salome to go! Thanks for reading.
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ABOUT THE ALBUM: Richard Strauss, Salome, Recorded At The Sofiensaal, Vienna, October, 1961, Released On LP, 1962 By Decca Record Company Limited, London, England, Released As A Remastered 2-CD Set, Decca Limited. Picture: Promotional Photo of Birgit Nilsson as Salome.

CAST: birgit Nilsson, soprano (Salome) Eberhard Wachter, baritone (Jochanaan), Gerhard Stolze, baritone, (Herod Tetrach) Grace Hoffmann, mezzo soprano (Herodias, wife of Herod) Josephine Veasey, mezzo soprano (Herodias' page) Aron Gestner (Narraboth) Kurt Equiluz (Jewish Councelor), Max Proebstl (Jewish Counselor) Nigel Douglas (page) Theodor Kirschbichler (Jewish Councelor) Zenon Kosnowski (Jewish councelor) Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, conductor Georg Solti.

SOLTI'S SALOME

What's not to like about Birgit Nilsson's classic recording of Salome ?

Everyone who has heard this recording, originally issued as an LP in 1962 by Decca and re-released as a CD sing its praises. It is not only the strongest Salome in terms of musicality, but also in terms of dramatic impact, theatricality and masterful singing by the entire cast. This was a recording made very early in Birgit Nilsson's career, not long after her triumphant Metropolitan Opera debut as Isolde in Wagner's Tristan in 1959. Her legacy on record followed immediately and her conductor of choice was Sir Georg Solti conducting her favorite orchestra, the Vienna Philharmonic, one of the world's finest. The studio recordings made at the Sofiensaal in Vienna, Austria became legendary and the Birgit Nilsson/Georg Solti partnership produced masterpieces after masterpiece (Tristan und Isolde and the first studio Wagner Ring Des Nibelungen). Richard Strauss' score to Salome was innovative and modern, with a plethora of themes and motifs, dissonant chords, dramatic fortissimis and eerie pianissimis. Besides all the powerful punches it packs, there are melodies full of sweet lyricism and beauty, with a passionate and exotic flair. The score calls for a vast orchestra, even larger than Wagner orchestras, and a superior conductor like Georg Solti, brought out all the driven intensity and sensational, overwhelming melodrama that is inherent in Salome. Not only that, he brings about the monstrosity, brutality and insanity so evident in the music for King Herod and Salome's final scenes. Dramatic touches abound early on, such as the scene in which Herod is holding court and fears there is a powerful wind howling and threatening to ruin him. The orchestra really becomes a strong wind!! The Vienna Philharmonic knew this score. Strauss' music is Austrian/Viennese, and though the more thunderous moments are the real attractive force in this recording, the orchestra under Solti's baton produces ornate melodies that capture the strange beauty and lilting, dance-like melodies that surround certain moments, like the Dance of the Seven Veils and prior to that Salome's scenes with Jochanaan that capture her blossoming sexuality and first pangs of love. Subsequent recordings were made to top this one, and although many critics rave about Van Karajan's late 70's Salzburg Festival recording with Hildegard Behrens, few conductors could truly deliver the goods like Solti. Here, none of his slow pacing is found. It is a dramatic and fast-moving Salome from start to finish, explosive, sexual, electrifying, shocking, sensational and even the slightest bit romantic. This is the perfect Salome, and just as it should sound.

BIRGIT NILSSON

Birgit Nilsson's Salome is a little on the controversial side because she came after Ljuba Welitsch's inspired performances from decades earlier at the Met. Welitsch had a powerful voice that could produce eerie sounds for the final scene but it was a voice that was young-sounding and so appropriate to the teenager Salome character that to this date, critics hail her as the reigning interpretor of the role. Nilsson was in her prime and in great voice for this recording but physically and vocally she does not convince as the young princess Salome. For me, this is not a serious problem. The voice is good, note-for-note, with a shining and blazing high register so full of Nordic crystals and yet also capable of sounding darker and scarier (like when she insists "Bring me the head of John the Baptist"/"Gibe mich der kopf des Jochanaan). And, truth be told, Nilsson had a flexible voice, even more so at this early phase of her career, so that she was able to sound very youthful and airy. When I first heard her as she enters the courtyard where Herod has imprisoned Jochanaan in a cistern, and she has lines with Narraboth, she sounds absolutely young! I didn't recognized her. It was a sweet, seductive, princess-like voice and she would never again use this kind of voice in latter recordings, not even as Isolde Nilsson was fully in character and knew just how to bring out all the layers in Salome's nature. Notice for instance the scene after her Dance when Herod first asks her what she would like on a silver platter. "Give me on a silver platter....the head of Jon the Baptist". She says this using that same girlish, sweet voice, as if what she had just asked for was nothing big or serious, a little girl asking for a toy!! The result is devilish! But note, too, how she changes her voice and darkens it when Herod does not obey her immediately and delays in bringing her the head. She sounds as if she has gone mad (her breathing is fast and you can hear it on this recording) and she is practically screaming for blood. Nilsson knew how to sing a very masterful Salome and for me, there is no greater Salome. The thing is, that even if singers like Ljuba Welitsch, Cheryl Studer and Hildegard Behrens can manage to sound young and petulant, they totally destroy the powerful dramatic impact that the voice ought to have in the more dramatic moments when Salome has gone nuts with her desire for John's head. Nilsson was able to sing with unrivaled mastership, her voice cutting through and rising above the jungle of Strauss' music, and maintaining a dramatic integrity all the way.

GERHARD STOLZE/GRACE HOFFMANN/EBERHARD WACHTER

Gerhard Stolze's Herod takes the crown as far as singing it with dramatic insight. His voice is an acquired taste. It is not a beautiful voice. He had success singing mostly "spoken" style singing, his German voice oozing with mannerisms and theatricality. For the role of Herod, this is perfect. Stolze's Herod packs a powerful punch. He is mad, he is lustful (so lustful that it's scary) and while he is overacting, it's necessary for the drama. And truth be told, Stolze had the right kind of voice with its big ugly baritone power. Grace Hoffmann's mezzo soprano is very mannered and operatic. Herodias is not ugly sounding or especially dramatic. She didn't sound angry, bitchy or even cold, as Herodias is supposed to sound. The evil queen has probably stopped sleeping with Herod and is a bitchy ice-queen compared to the more passionate Salome, to whom she has lost. Herod really would prefer to mate with Salome, his own stepdaughter. Hoffmans' voice is beautiful but truthfully, it did not sound appropriate to her character. Eberhard Wachter's Jochanaan is beautifully sung, even if not especially brilliant like certain baritones who would take on the part later on. It is a voice that is strong, spiritual and lyrical. The scenes between him and Salome find him in a very even voice, and he is a total contrast to Stolze's crazy Herod and the equally crazy Salome. In fact, Wachter's peaceful voice is so in character. He is a saint among Satanists. And we can truly hear that. It is also to his credit that he could portray this role at the same time he had recorded the classic Giulini Don Giovanni with Joan Sutherland and Elisabeth Schwarzkopf. Wachter had a very flexible instrument and was essentially a high baritone, and his Jochanaan appears to be taking the "peaceful, calm saint" approach.

Without a doubt in my mind, there is no greater Salome. Decca has remastered this so the sound is even better and clearer. There are 2 versions of this same recording, the other being a little inferior in quality (sounding like it was taken from a library collection of CDs). This one is the one to take home. Birgit Nilsson triumphs as Salome as no other soprano ever has. Solti conducts an incredible score, finally resurrected from opium sleep to wild theatricality thanks to the fine musicianship of the Vienna Philharmonic.

I can, without question, blame this recording, along with Solti's Götterdämmerung, for causing the permanent tinnitus in both my ears. When I first came upon this recording of Salome I couldn't take it off the turntable for weeks on end. My roommates finally demanded I use earphones. Hence permanent hearing damage. I still love you, Birgit, and I can still hear you. Was this affliction worth it? Absolutely.

The old lps with the outrageously lurid and camp photo of Mme Nilsson have long been worn out. It wasn't until last week that I purchased this remastered Decca classic and I really kick myself now for depriving my soul the pleasure and thrill of this recording over all these years since the snaps, crackles and pops of the lps made them useless as pleasurable listening experiences. I switched my loyalties to the more sensuous and also beautifully sung and recorded set on EMI with Hildegard Behrens and Karajan. Then the excellent Sinopoli/Studer set came along, and the very under-rated one with Michael Schönwandt with Inga Nielson. Dohnanyi's with Malfitano ain't bad either. But this Nilsson Solti leviathan of a recording is unsurpassed in every department.

I remembered this recording over all those intervening years and knew I must return to it someday if only to see if it really is as magnificent as I remembered. It is! More so.

Nilsson was an amazing Salome, on record anyway. The huge, titanium voice easily over-riding the Vienna Philharmonic at full roar under Solti's demonic direction. Alternatively she could sing on a single silvery thread of voice, like a moonbeam slipping through a chink in the window blinds, absolutely beautiful. And she acted with this splendid instrument of hers as well as anyone else I can think of. Definitely in the Maria Callas league as far as dramatic singing abilities are concerned, viscerally conveying seemingly endless nuances in the music and text.

As good as other Salomes are and no doubt will be for decades to come, I can't imagine any one of them topping this miraculous performance. This is all pretty hyperbolic language for me but I have nothing but ecstatic admiration for the accomplishments of this team. And I don't care what the critics of John Culshaw may say, they just don't make brilliantly engineered recordings like this anymore. The puritans have put the kibash on this sort of theatricality resulting from what they like to call knob-twiddling. Well, twiddle away if this is the result!

If you want only one Salome in your library this is without question the one. Just listen to Eberhard Wächter's heroic, ringing tones as John the Baptist, then move along to Salome's big scene when Jokanaan's head is presented to her on a silver platter. The stage picture springs to life and the imagination soars as Nilsson moves through this psychologically rugged territory and emerges triumphant in her madness at the end.

Solti proves once again that he was capable of fining down from a roar to a tinkling magical whisper the myriad of details in this score. In my opinion this is Strauss's greatest masterpiece, which is saying something. Salome changed the musical landscape for ever when it appeared in the early years of the 20th century.

The cast is unsurpassed. Gerhard Stolze's Herod and Grace Hoffman's Herodias are palpably vile and decadent people. Waldemar Kmentt's beautiful tenor perfectly conveys the love-sick young soldier, Narraboth.

Don't hesitate to get this release while it lasts. There is a full libretto included and the remastering is splendid.

Buy this recording even if you don't think you'd like a tale of such bloody sexual passion. It is life enhancing.

There are many wonderful recordings of Salome but this one will knock your socks off! Not to be missed.

The story is directly borrowed from Oscar Wilde's "Salom" originally in French, then translated by Lord Alfred Douglas, alias Bosie, then corrected by Oscar Wilde who introduced some significant modifications. Salome is the daughter of Herodias, present Queen married to Herod, the brother of her first husband and Salome's father. This first husband was imprisoned for twelve years before being strangled on the Herod's order. As for such an incestuous situation, we only know Hamlet that could compare. But here the girl discovers the Prophet Jochanaan imprisoned in the cistern. She hears him, demands him to be brought out and she falls in love with him. Nothing sentimental. Purely sensuous, sensual, sexual, animal appeal. She adds to that brutal desire the will of a capricious whimsical princess who does not take no for an answer to any of her commands, orders and demands. When her stepfather Herod discovers the situation he is both frightened and amazed. Richard Strauss slightly rewrites this section of the play by reducing the Jews, Nazarenes and other Biblical tribes to the minimum and concentrating on the challenge that comes when Herod demands his stepdaughter to dance for him. She refuses and finally accepts with the promise of getting what she wants afterwards. She dances the famous dance of the seven veils and then asks for the head of Jochanaan on a silver charger. Herod refuses and proposes instead an emerald bigger than the one Caesar himself has. She refuses. Then fifty of his white peacocks. She refuses Then a whole set of jewels and other rare garments. She refuses. Herod finally yields and sends his executioner down to get the requested head. During all that time Herodias showed extreme hatred for Herod and absolute support for her daughter. The head is finally brought up. Salome little by little, discovering that the head does not respond any more, neither with its eyes nor with its tongue, gets crazy and compensates her loss by the fact that at least she is alive and he is dead. And she finally kisses the mouth and gets insane. She is interrupted by Herod's order that she be put to death. Strauss essentially reduced the strong Jewish and Biblical corpus of references that could have seemed anti-Semite. He also reduces the fear of Herod in front of Jochanaan which makes his attitude become more hatred for his wife than real fear of the apocalypse, the end of the world, the catastrophe that may come from the Prophet's death. Yet Strauss keeps most of the symbolism of the moon that is like the mirror of who looks at it, like a moonstone of some kind, including its turning red before Salome accepts to dance announcing thus the final drama, the blood that is going to be spilled. But Strauss does a marvelous job with the music of course. Extreme power for the voices and the orchestra that can be extremely expressive both of the sensual appeal Salome is using to get everyone to doing what she requires, and the singer is essential here too, and the biblical power of the end of a world promised by the very presence of John the Baptist, of Jesus who is alluded to behind, and of the end of that Jesus in a public death that will turn the world to a new era. At times that extreme force recesses to let some somber, fascinatingly menacing atmosphere develop with the use of some instruments that can bring up that kind of very low pitched coloration and yet some violin continuo modulating the space of the music with some sound reference. Altogether he manages to use all his Wagnerian heritage and invest the expressivity of the twentieth century that fits so well these dramas that were announcing the first world war and all that followed it, the deflagration of the end of an egoistic world that refused any kind of world governance. We could of course regret the purely linguistic symbolism and music of Wilde's play, both in French and in English, that is pushed aside by the music itself that is naturally more powerful than the music of the words. But the Jewish argument and dispute in the fourth scene expresses the same feeling as Wilde's : "Put them all in one bag and dispose of the whole lot", even if he does not reach the diabolical number of nine different Jews and Jewish tribes. Seven is maybe more divine, Christian especially since the sixth and seventh Jews are two Nazarenes. The eighth Jew is Jochanaan who definitely brings the second coming in perspective with his rank then. Salome's dance deserves all by itself the greatest concentration and admiration; It is so ahead on its time, so modern, so Viennese and yet tragic, so Wagnerian and yet without the pomposity Wagner so often displays, even at times some touches of exoticism, like the use of punctual percussions in the background of the main orchestration. We feel Stravinsky or even Prokofiev behind, though they are not yet on the musical stage, or hardly. We also feel the war that is already raging in the limelight of the patriotic press and media. And the very long solo of Salome confronted to the head of Jochanann is the announcement of a whole century and the echo of what all inspired people were feeling then, the desire of peace in the very face of its impossibility since the Prophet of peace had been beheaded for the caprice of a whimsical motherland, and in 1915 it was impossible to imagine what the outcome of that conflict would be. Salome is expressing then in her bloody satisfaction the impossibility to see beyond the immediate present. And the end is absolute insanity in an unreal stratospheric music.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris Dauphine, University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne & University Versailles Saint Quentin en Yvelines

thanks I couldnot find this one here in my home city and thought Amazon will have one or more. It did and it was right on time with the promised delivery. Thanks again
EB STL