ROH Salome © Tristram Kenton ROH
Opening night of Salome proved to be the first night of the Royal Opera’s 2022/23 season, although this was not by design. Don Giovanni was to have opened it the preceding evening, but the sad news of the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II saw the performance cancelled as a mark of respect. Twenty-four hours later Salome did go ahead, preceded by a tribute led by Director of Opera Oliver Mears, a minute’s silence and the playing of the National Anthem by the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House.
Despite only being mentioned briefly in the New Testament, the character of Salome has certainly caught the imagination as she has pervaded art, literature and music over the centuries. In the Gospels of Matthew and Mark she is described as a girl who pleased King Herod so much at his birthday feast with her dancing that he promised her anything she desired. After consulting Herodias, the husband of Herod and her mother, she asked for the head of John the Baptist on a plate, with Herodias desiring this because John had proclaimed her marriage to be unlawful. The King was mortified, but could not go back on a promise he had made in front of so many guests and so ordered John’s execution.
Salome (c) Tristram Kenton, Royal Opera House 2022
So brief is the girl’s appearance in the Bible that she is not even named, being referred to simply as the daughter of Herodias. She was subsequently given the name of Salome after being linked to the eponymous figure who was mentioned as a stepdaughter of Herod Antipas in Flavius Josephus’s Antiquities of the Jews. Subsequent depictions have tended to present her as an icon of dangerous female seductiveness, with her entertainment having acquired the title of the Dance of the Seven Veils. Some, however, have identified her light-hearted and cold foolishness as the trait that led to John the Baptist’s death. Oscar Wilde’s Symbolist play, which premiered in Paris in 1896, sees Salome take a perverse fancy to John, and insist on his execution when he spurns her affections. It is this version of events that Richard Strauss, working from Hedwig Lachmann’s German translation of the Wilde, largely follows in his opera of 1905 as he includes her kissing the severed head at the end.
David McVicar’s 2008 production, now enjoying its fourth revival (from Bárbara Lluch), creates a visceral thrill with its raw depiction of the story’s gory elements, and plumbs the psychological depths of the characters. In this broadly modern day staging, Es Devlin’s set focuses on the underbelly of Herod’s palace. The lavishness of his halls is merely alluded to through a banqueting table that occupies a single strip high above the stage. The main area, in contrast, contains the entrance to the prison where Jokanaan (John the Baptist) is held, and acts as a catch-all cellar with its wine racks, hanging meats, dirty tiles and dim lighting. It is here that the soldiers indulge in their own debauchery while keeping watch.
Salome, Malin Byström (c) Tristram Kenton, Royal Opera House 2022
McVicar’s production allows the principals to shine by positively inviting multi-faceted performances from them, and Malin Byström, who reprises her role from the 2018 revival, is superb as Salome. It is not only her mesmerising soprano, which combines a sumptuous sound with razor sharp clarity, that makes the performance, but also the manner in which her face can change in a second. A severity that reveals both her expectancy and determination to get what she wants can transform in an instant into something far softer when she wishes to put on the charm and exploit her sexual allure, or when she is revealing her almost mystical fascination with Jokanaan.
On his Royal Opera debut, Jordan Shanahan is equally strong as Jokanaan, with his immensely firm and broad baritone helping to reveal the character’s conviction as a man of God who speaks the truth. John Daszak, who replaces Štefan Margita on this occasion though he played Herod here in 2018, reveals the right combination of brutishness, charm and fear as he would ultimately prefer to be loved rather than feared, but who has constant battles with a formidable wife and powerful Jewish authorities even before his present troubles arise. Katarina Dalayman is a class act as Herodias and Thomas Atkins provides excellent support as Narraboth.
The real coup of the staging might be seen as the Dance of the Seven Veils. This moves away from presenting the more directly seductive dance to explore Salome’s various emotional states and, through a child’s toy, hint at her history with Herod. In the only scene change of the evening, it occurs on a bare stage, and sees doors move from left to right to create new spaces every time that they stop. Through these Herod and Salome pass in scenes that see her dress up in fine garments before throwing them aside and washing herself clean, as she never allows the sight of Jokanaan in his prison to leave her mind.
Salome (c) Tristram Kenton, Royal Opera House 2022
More generally the production generates a real visceral thrill, thanks in large part to the excellent conducting of Alexander Soddy, while also ensuring that the various voices that compete for Herod’s attention come across clearly. There is a wonderful moment when Paul Curievici as the First Jew jumps up and down in rage before instantly coming across as embarrassed and apologetic. This, however, is only part of an approach that shows an exquisite attention to detail as moments later he is seen sipping on wine and listening to the First Nazarene (James Platt) with a smile that indicates his contempt for what he says. The reactions of the cast give away so much so that Herodias looks immensely put out when Herod promises Salome jewels that even she did not know about, while the Jews take notable exception when he offers her the mantle of the high priest and the veil of the sanctuary. It is also clever to fill the stage at certain points, but to thin things out for the final scene by removing the five Jews, who would see advantages in Jokanaan’s death but want to distance themselves from it, so the emphasis can be firmly on Salome’s interaction with Jokanaan’s head. Byström, with her bloodied dress, carries off the encounter with all of the intensity it demands, and consequently puts the seal on an excellent revival of a quite compelling production.
By Sam Smith
Salome | 9 September - 1 October 2022 | Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
Salome - Royal Opera House (2022)
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