This was a magnificently thrilling experience and virtually every aspect of this experience was sensationally good.
The production by Claus Guth was thoughtfully original and illuminating. It wasn’t radical for its own sake as many modern opera productions can be but was as it was in order to say what it wanted to say – and what it said was fascinating.#
Salome as shown as a deeply disturbed and abused individual – not intrinsically new or radical – but the way this was shown was wonderfully creative. There were 6 other identically dressed ‘Salomes on stage all the time, sometimes acting and reacting, other times just as silent observers. These were Salome at different stages of her life, from a little girl to a young woman and this idea/concept was cleverly and clearly shown in the staging of the Dance. Starting with the youngest, each iteration of Salome came on stage with one veil draped over her head which the opera Salome, slowly removed and where the movements and gestures of that iteration managed to convey a stage in her abuse and trauma. This went from puzzled bewilderment and stillness, through disbelief, to a degree of fighting back to, finally I felt, a degree of acceptance of who she was and who she had become because of what had been done to her. I felt that she gained self-knowledge in this process.
The use of the rising and falling stage, allowing a seamless movement between two worlds was excellently done and by largely having the additional Salomes in the lower level and only appearing in the Dance in the upper part of the stage well established the idea that the trauma of Salome was largely hidden from those with whom she interacted. It was only when with Jokanaan that her full self and implied history was revealed.
Herod’s court was satisfyingly dark and sinister with strong ‘Eyes Wide Shut’ vibes from the appearance and movement of the horned black ram head masks. Gerhard Siegel as Herod was outstanding for the way he truly properly, sweetly and powerfully sung the role rather than focusing on the grotesqueries of vocal sound that too often mar this role. And as Herodias, Michelle de Young also did not become an absurd and ridiculous figure but rather one who copes with what is happening around her with the aid of alcohol and games with the servants, this providing a number of moments of well-chosen levity. The vivid orange of her wig and dress conveyed enough about this aspect of the role.
Peter Mattei was, vocally and visually, a superb Jokanaan and he effectively held back his full power until the end of his scene with Salome which managed to effectively suggest that it was this final rejection that truly sent her over the edge. Their scene together was grippingly performed, again without the musical and dramatic excess that is too often added to this scene; the music does this, as throughout most of this score, and so extreme additions to this in terms of acting and movement are not really needed.
Elza van den Heever was a stunning, superb Salome. A glorious voice, unforced, fine, subtle acting that could (as with all the other performers) the ultra-close-ups of a typical MET HD relay. The final scene was superbly and powerfully staged and the violence, while gruesomely explicit, was also horribly serious (a couple next to me left halfway through (!!) this final scene…) which too often it can not be. The ending was intriguing and I am still not absolutely/y sure that it wholly worked. A swirling, misty figure in white was projected onto the left-hand section of the stage in the final moments which I took to be a possibly redeemed/self-understanding Salome who had managed to come to terms with what had been done to; her over the years. However, the singer at the very end just walked rapidly off and it was Herod who died during the final bars. I’m still not wholly convinced by this; the idea of Salome gaining personal peace and redemption at the end which is what I think was the dramatic core of the ending would surely have been more effective and powerful if she had been seen to, physically, die.
I would say that Elza v d H was the star of the production, but that would be unfair to all the other performers and the production as a whole. The greatest strength of this performance was the way that the absolutely top-flight individuals, plus such a thoughtfully original production, supported by the amazing orchestra, all brought out the best in the other with the result that this was one of the best operatic experiences I have had for a very long time – certainly the best on screen.