Customer Reviews

Salome

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This performance has so many strengths that it seems almost churlish to complain. The production design is totally effective, with none of the missteps that undercut the effect of the new production at the Met in New York. The 20th century costumes and set decoration update without distraction, and the "downstairs" atmosphere of the main playing space--as though in a kitchen/slaughterhouse--is stark and dramatic. The choice of having the executioner on stage, holding his sword, during the whole performance adds a sense of menace without forcing a symbolic element (like the winged angels of death in the Met production), and his descent into the cistern stark naked and his return with his body covered in blood certainly make powerful stage imagery.

The performers are almost uniformly superior. Narraboth looks his part and sings it well; Herod is especially effective in conveying the psychological weakness of the character. Herodias is, perhaps, a bit too much the ordinary matron, avoiding the caricatured portrayal of, for example, Astrid Varnay. Crucially, Jokanaan has a powerful voice and a powerful, if somewhat older than described, visual presence. The direction of the interactions between him and Salome is particularly effective and harrowing.

The weak link is Nadja Michael's Salome. She acts the role interestingly, and I think her characterization is defensible and effective, but her voice--rather light and high pitched as compared with other great performers in this role--is a problem. She has a noticeable wobble that she may be deploying to intensify the emotional effect of Salome's big moments, but unfortunately, it often just sounds like a wobble. Worse, she often fails to hit the notes, especially the crucial high notes that a Nilsson or Mattila punch into the stratosphere. Michael comes in under the pitch and sounds as though she is avoiding the really tough notes. I don't say her performance is bad, but for anyone who knows great performances of the role, hers sounds undersung.

Finally, Philippe Jordan's conducting is extraordinary--subtle, carefully thought out to provide insights into the interplay of orchestra and voices--he uses the orchestra to carry the drama but does not overwhelm the singers.

On the whole,I am very happy to have this video, and I know I will look at it again and again, but the Stratas performance remains, for me, the most powerful available on DVD.

Let's get this out of the way first: With all the negatives continually hurled at Nadja Michael's voice, I happen to think she is a spectacular singer and seriously cannot understand the criticisms about her voice. Her Tosca was tough to gauge as it was mic'd onstage, but other roles I've heard now have impressed me favorably and none more than Salome. If she ain't your cup of tea, read elsewhere for a rave review follows.

Nadja Michaels may be the best Salome I've ever seen (including Mattila's stunning turns the past few years) and David McVicar's production is one of the most disturbing, brilliant and perfect weddings of music and staging I've seen for a production of ANY opera. It's the first Salome I've seen in - forever maybe - that had not one false step and seamlessly strung the evening along with shock, horror and beauty. Michael's voice was thrilling, possessing a quick flickering of the text that I haven't heard from a Salome since Cheryl Studer's recording - and before that Behrens. The text (as with the two previous ladies) flies off of her tongue, ever deliciously caressed with maximum impact on every syllable. While I try to remain impartial in matters of diva-weight, there is no denying the thrill of watching a singer whose body possesses the true and rare physique du role, as Michael's does. Her body is incredible by any standard and she truly moves with the lithe moves of a dancer gracefully throughout the entire role, which seems almost through-choreographed for her, adding a liquid sensuality from start to bloody finish one is simply unlikely to encounter in this opera. Credit Andrew George who is listed in the program as responsible party for Choreography and Movement.

I had heard so many negatives about Michael's Salome that though I've owned the disc for a while, it remained unplayed until I felt ready to hear her "out of tune" singing. I'm only sorry I waited so long, for I found little to complain of and almost everything to enjoy in her vocal interpretation. During the final scene she does exhibit a tendency to squarely land on some big notes, but then sort of slides into flatness - these notes (and one just plain "wrong" note), aside this is a thrilling performance for its totality of the character she and McVicar have created for us. With an often thrilling top end and a rich, plumy bottom we really get those truly creepy, loonytunes moments from the Judean Princess - and more than once she chills the blood.

There was much criticism of the Es Devlin's set - splitting the stage into two levels - an upper level revealing the elegant feast of Herodes and his guests, while a large staircase brings us to a basement which quite resembles another world (there have been many comparisons to Pasolini's "Salo" film and they do seem to be there). Here we find showers, people in various states of copulating and dressing, a hog hanging from a hook, and all manner of symbolism pointing toward stereotypical debauchery. It is powerfully affecting and becomes the setting for nearly of all the evening's action.

Thomas Moser gives a welcome new spin on Herodes; not as outwardly vile when we first meet him, but depraved beyond belief and disturbing. When he makes his first request for Salome to dance, he does a little Carmen Miranda number himself that's both hilarious and disturbing. He sings the music with an almost baritonal timbre to his sound and a lieder singer's precision in painting pictures with words. One or two higher notes threaten to get away, but this is the most integrated and powerful performance of this role I've yet encountered and, as with Salome herself, I love the creation director and singer come up with. Each of his requests (eat, drink, dance) he makes not only to Salome, but a sort of "stand in" for her, a handsome black slave with exotic "Island Hair" who DOES sip the wine and bite the fruit, as Herod's hands wander around him. There is so much "business" going on in every moment, but not one bit of it feels extraneous or too much, so wonderfully is it woven into the total fabric of this show.

I was completely unprepared for the Dance of the 7 Veils which is a true coup d'theatre. The set disappears before our eyes and a series of rooms - one for each veil - moves across the stage, as Prince and Princess perform a horrifying pas de deux that McVicar and choreographer Andrew George turn into one of the most gripping pieces of theatre imaginable. The pair waltz elegantly through these tableau, each room revealing a more disturbing level of the girl's degradation and descending us further into the hellish world that formed such a bizarre creature as she. The rear wall of the stage has vivid projected images changing with each room and which help reveal even more of this bizarre couple's ritual. Whatever painstaking rehearsals were required pay off handsomely as Michaels and Moser perform this long, devilish dance with a sense of detached elegance that is both creepy and utterly beautiful. Moser is not a small man, and it is thrilling to see him waltz with such panache and style, his feet sliding across the floor like a natural dancer - not a moment of awkwardness or sloppiness - this is Herod's game and he plays it brilliantly. We don't see what happens in the final room/veil, with the set returning to its original design as Herod sings his lines re-entering the room. It's a stunning moment in an evening full of them.

Michael Volle is in remarkable voice as Jokanaan and he belts out his prophecies and denunciations of Herod's court with authority and ringing, magisterial tone. His long scene with Salome is, predictably, chilling theatre, the pair of them playing off of each other, each offering a wonderful sense of outrage and ego. Volle, more than any Jokanaan I can think of in recent times - has an animalistic sense of rage to go along with his piety. His physical manipulations of Salome may strike some as too much "off the page" but for others (like me) it's always fun seeing that there really IS more than one way to skin a cat!

Like the best Herodias's Michaela Schuster makes a meal out of her assignment, strutting and chewing up the scenery and driving her husband bananas.

Joseph Kaiser (looking like a beefy Josh Groban) sings rapturously as Narraboth and (for once) Salome looks at his corpse with a tender concern, even Herod kisses him before having him carted off. Once again, it is this kind of detail (knowing Narraboth's noble past and the affection felt for him) that makes McVicar's productions so engaging - offering so much to chew on besides the obvious.

Duncan Meadows' silent executioner plays a big role here, barefoot, but dressed in a long military trench coat he hints at things to come, and, sword ever present, seemingly ready to burst into violence at any given moment. When Herodias gives him the ring, she removes his trench coat revealing his naked bodybuilder physique and he descends into the cistern. When he re-emerges, covered in blood, he holds aloft the prophet's head in an image instantly evoking a twisted version of Caravaggio's "David and Goliath." His dispatching of the princess at opera's end also produces some chills.

There has been criticism of Phillipe Jordan's leading of the Royal Opera House Orchestra, but I found his performance to be ideal for this setting, and if it doesn't always have the remarkable clarity that von Karajan or Bohm (or more recently Gergiev) bring to the quieter moments of this piece, it is still damned fine playing, with the big moments sounding as thrilling as anyone could demand from a live performance.

I think McVicar staged this for me and I thank him. Most of the reviews I read when this was first staged last year, spoke of how "unshocking" everything felt. One critic who attended both opening night and reviewed this DVD set, wrote that staging this work out of its context (?) takes away its ability to shock us. I disagree and LOVE what McVicar did here - which was to basically scare the you-know-what out of me, making me wonder and guess at what could possibly happen next - which almost NEVER happens anymore! While the critics all took potshots, audiences gobbled this up and the roar for Miss Michael when the curtain opens to reveal her alone, is deafening.

I really love this Salome and have been able to think of little else for two days now. Not for everyone, but what really is?

This is an INCREDIBLY theatrical and innovative production of SALOME. I'll be the first to admit it: I'm a McVicar fan -- I've never seen an opera that he directed (including his Glyndebourne CARMEN and Covent Garden MAGIC FLUTE) that didn't work for me 100%. He knows how to make opera theatre, and yet he somehow also seems to know how to put the music where it belongs: in the forefront. Philipe Jordan's conducting is passionate and intense, I've been his fan ever since seeing the afore-mentioned Glyndebourne CARMEN on DVD.

This production will also serve as a WONDERFUL introduction for those friends of yours who may not ever have seen an opera before. The staging (design by Les Devlin) was inspired by Pasolini's 1975 film "Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom" and this is a very apt metaphor for the Strauss-Wilde opera: we're now being treated to a front row seat and allowed to see what effect Fascism has on the human spirit. Nadja Michael is stunning in the title role. It was a treat getting to see how she and McVicar interacted during the rehearsal process in the documentary that comes on the bonus DVD. Thomas Moser is a fantastic Herod, very funny and not afraid to be unpleasant in the suggestion of incest, for which I applaud him. The "Dance of the Seven Veils" in no longer a literal striptease, but a surrealistic pas-de-deux for Salome and Herod, in which they move through seven different rooms in Herod's mansion, each room represent a phase in the development of their disturbing relationship. Michael Volle is a solid Jochanaan, and Michaela Schuster finds some surprising moments of mother/daughter pathos in her turn as Herodias.

Much has been made of Duncan Meadows nakedness in the end, that it is a cheap trick, a gimmick, gratuitous, etc. Well, in my most humble of humble opinions, it may be cheap, but hey -- it works! Meadows' naked, muscular backside, splattered with blood, holding a (VERY impressive) still bleeding severed head in a VERY powerful image, and one that will haunt you. After Salome takes the head, Meadows walks away and rolls up in the fetal position on the floor -- again, another incredibly powerful (and human) moment. In fact, although Meadows of course never sings a note in the mute role of Namaan the Executioner, in many ways he gives one of the most riveting performance: his big eyes and huge, expressive face were made for the stage.

The bonus DVD documentary "David McVicar's SALOME: A Work in Process" is a very entertaining, fly-on-the-wall chance to see how brilliant this man is at working and collaborating with opera singers and designers in creating a wonderful night of theatre at the opera house.

All in all, this product is worth the money, I've already re-watched it several times and have lent it to numerous friends, all of whom loved it.

This is a really powerful Salome mostly becasue of the orchestra and stage design. Soprano Michaels, sometimes off pitch, performs a better Salome as an actress than as a singer. Volle performs a wonderful Jochanaan and the rest of the cast is ok. Stage design is really powerful but a dissapointing regie, specially at the seven veils' dance. The orchetra directed by Phillippe Jordan makes this Salome almost a masterpiece after Solti's Salome (with Nilsson, for me the perfect Salomé.)

I have two other Salome sung by Malfitano but this ie better than both of them. The sound is wonderful. Hope to have soon Mattilas's Salome in DVD at the Met(only available at youtube and sems to be strong and wonderful vocally)

Having bought this Salome DVD because of early reviews, I was disappointed at several aspects. Spoiled by Nilsson, I found the soprano of Nadja Michael to be so underpowered, I kept thinking, "I'll bet she really lets loose towards the end." Quite the opposite. She runs out of steam, goes wildly off pitch, but does compensate with good acting skills. The best voice there is Michael Volle's Jochanaan. Contrary to the review in Opera News [Feb. '09] the set appears to be a 3rd world insane asylum, in the best regie-theatre fashion, fitting for a dance that would make Freud happy, and some lap dances jealous. Indeed, the best part of the whole show is the orchestra - absolutely magnificent conducting and playing throughout - thankfully drowning out some incursions by the vocal rabble. The fleetingly brief shots of the naked executioner, hunky as he is, are not worth the price of admission. Now to the blood: That damn head keeps on draining for the remainder of the opera, covering everyone nearby in gore. Possibly the director wanted it to be difficult to watch, as well as listen to. If you want a great video of this opera, just get the Böhm [DG] with Teresa Stratas.

This is probably the best quality Salome on the market. The production will not be to everyone's tastes, but if you like clever, intellectual productions, this will be for you.(I don't mean German Regie nonsense by the way!)Dark, provocative, sexy and very bloody, but amazing and thought-provoking. An amazing visceral experience...

Now wait! The opera as performed was excellent. A few were underpitch, but so what? McVicar and Devlin had their own ideas and I have respect for both. That said...

How is one to credit a severed head that weighs little more than a Christmas tree ornament? One does not play with something in the mid-range of ten pounds as if it were nothing.

Bringing the Wilde treatment into a more modern era serves the play not at all but creates a silliness that annoys - at least it annoyed me.

I grinned over the "emaciated" Baptizer with his roll of belly fat and saggy breast tissue.However, he sang "real good." I would anticiapte nothing less from Moser.

Having said all that, otherwise, it was a very good production. Had it been staged with some reason, it might be right up there with my favorite - the film with Stratas. I've always despised opera films as opposed to filming staged opera (which this clearly was).

Nadia Michael was indeed the star and sang her role perfectly. Not a pretty voice she was, nonetheless, compelling in the role.

Would I watch this Salome again? No. I shall give it away, probably to someone who will, as well, give it away. I'm glad I saw it.

My three favorite Strauss operas are this one, Ariadne and Frau - and none is first.

Strauss's Salome is a purified vision of Wilde's. Strauss in 1915 reduced the depicting of the Jews to maybe appear less antisemite than the original and close that episode on a positive vision of Jesus. But Strauss also eliminated in the first scene the discussion of the soldiers about the cistern and the fate of Salome's mother's first husband, Herod's brother and though unmentioned Salome's father.

By doing so Strauss moves to a purer structure more contained in itself and owes less to Salome's past. We all know about the relationship between Herod and Salome and it becomes an ellipse here. But Wilde deemed it necessary to specify these details and particularly the horror of that death, Salome's father kept twelve years in this cistern and strangled at the end. Wilde was thus differentiating Salome from Hamlet, which Strauss does not need to do since he speaks to a German audience.

Apart from that Strauss is faithful to the play. His music is a tremendous enriching medium added to the text and Strauss systematically uses all his art to multiply the rhythm of the text and the symbolism of that rhythm basically constructed by Wilde around a ternary structure that could sound Christian, but is extended to four (the crucifixion), to five (some diabolic vision), to six (Salomon's number) and to nine (the very symbol of the devilish beast).

The famous kissing scene at the very end is entirely built on such rhythms in the text directly borrowed from Wilde and amplified by the music that adds some extra similar variations. For Wilde it meant they are all the same, put all the moralists in one bag and drown them. They are the devil, including John the Baptist. In Strauss we can be divided as for interpreting that heavy reference to the devil as the step beyond Solomon's number, beyond the Jewish reference and the Christian presence. That's where David McVicar, the stage director of the Covent Garden 2008 production, is essential.

He explains in the DVD's bonuses he visually referred to Pasolini's adaptation of de Sade's Salo and that it meant he placed his production of Salome in 1938 and the very core of the tale was the problem of alliances with the worst criminals to save one's privileges. McVicar alludes there to Munich. First we may find it anachronistic for both Wilde and Strauss who lived and produced their play and opera a long time before 1938. But it may be justified since we can see in Wilde's play a metaphor of what he thinks the world is leading to: a severe catastrophe because of the total inhumanity of its ethics. But yet it is anachronistic.

But why have anything against it after all? Does it bring anything new or a supplementary layer of meaning? Some elements do, some don't. His vertical vision with the banquet upstairs and the turning of the terrace into a cellar with the servants and the guards, and deeper still underground the cistern or prison with John the Baptist is a good idea because the voice of the prophet comes from deep under and travels even higher, to the higher strata of society his prediction menaces directly: they are Babylon. It thus reinforces the discourse about this apocalypse that will come after the Son of Man has been sacrificed.

On the other hand the presence of two nude women down in the cellar adds nothing though to the meaning and is a purely gratuitous allusion to Pasolini's Salo. On the other hand the fact that the executioner will go down into the cistern to behead John the Baptist in complete nudity is justified by the fact he comes back covered with blood and the fact that he will kill Salome at the end in a sexual embrace that reminds us of the sexual embrace Salome gratified him when he came with the head. For Salome her sexual appeal to John is in fact a sexual appeal to death. To die is to have sex with life in a way.

Yet it reduces Wilde's discourse slightly for whom having John killed is the utter unbalancing vengeance human society is based on and leads to insanity and the apocalypse. Here the death of John is nothing else but the satisfaction of sexual lust, though it is partly that in Wilde, and it must be admitted the soprano Nadja Michael is absolutely superb in that rendering.

But then her insanity comes from her mixing up death and life, and there, in spite of Strauss erasing it, the insanity can be seen as the mixing up of her dead father and John the Baptist, hence her desire for John the Baptist becomes incestuous, hence she has to have the object of her incestuous desire killed to purify herself, and her father her desire has soiled, but then it tricks her into loving a dead object, a dead mouth, and we come back to the kiss that is both to love and to death.

That nudity adds something that would have been in phase with Wilde's original play (though the reference to Salome's father's fate is done without Salome being present, but we may think it makes the opera more complex than Strauss may have thought it. Strauss got something out of the play by the main door of cutting it off and McVicar brings it back in through the skylight of his stage direction.

This version of the opera is superb but the meaning is made slightly too rich for the text: after all she is in love with, at first eyes, a body and a voice, and then with a body, hair and a mouth. From a rather abstract trinity to a deeply sensual trinity. There is no real mention of any incestuous dimension, in the opera, though McVicar brings it in with beauty and great art.

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

Oscar Wilde would have been proud of this opera production; he's actually chuckling somewhere. I however, experienced "hot flashes". Phenomenal performances by all. Opera lovers must hear and see this and shouldn't be prudish just because the executioner is a bloody naked mess - you would be too if you had to behead someone; and at that, a radical who unbeknown to himself seduced princess Salome and has remained immortal in religious history for a few thousand years. I had to rewind that scene numerous if not countless times to watch the executioner's dramatic ascnesion from the cellar jail to the palace floor gripping the head by its hair as if it were an incnense challis. Dramatique!