Strauss’ ‘Salome’ – Royal Opera – ROH
17 Jul 2010 Leave a Comment
in ROH Reviews
Let me premise this by saying that my loyalty to McVicar and my love of Strauss make it very difficult for me to fairly review this production, but I shall employ my better judgement and be as honest as possible.
I have owned this production on DVD since 2008, when it was originally performed at ROH and have been keen to see it live for the whole two years since I missed it then. Words cannot describe my delight at discovering it was being revived, and my eagerness ensured I would be satisfied with nothing less than the best seats in the house. I don’t know what it is about Salome that I find so compelling, but it holds some strange magic for me, and I would never pass up an opportunity to see it. The same goes for the play.
Two things surprised me about last night’s performance; the first was the feebleness of Gerhard Siegel’s Herod, and the second was the incredible power of Irina Mishura’s Herodias. Whereas with the original casting of Thomas Moser and Michaela Schuster in 2008 when I felt that Moser was rather apt and Schuster a little too exaggerated, this seems to have been almost reversed now. I don’t think there is really much point in producing Salome unless you have a really strong Herod. Too much emphasis is put on the importance of Jokanaan and Salome; they are of course incredibly important, but it seems that because of this, Herod and Herodias are a little forgotten. Vocally Siegel was no match for Mishura’s Herodias or Angela Denoke’s Salome, and thankfully for him, he is never seen onstage with Jokanaan, who was sung by the marvelous Johan Reuter. As Herod Siegel was just very weak, his voice only just making it over the orchestra, and his acting really wasn’t much stronger. Altogether, I was very unimpressed by his performance. Furthermore, he displayed none of the perverseness needed in his attentions towards Salome. Very disappointing.
However, Mishura’s Herodias was quite astounding – arguably the best thing in the production. Her rich voice was dipped in staccato bitterness, dark and foreboding in the lower register and appropriately hysterical and mad in the higher notes. She was almost desperately seductive and wonderfully dismissive of Herod. I cannot imagine a better Herodias. Simply spectacular.
I felt largely uncertain about Angela Denoke’s performance of Salome. While her voice is incredibly powerful and she seems to have no trouble with the part whatsoever, she also seems too wise for the role. I can’t say she looks too old, because she actually has a wonderfully youthful face (although Wolfgang Göbbel’s lighting design does not display this to it’s best advantage), but she does seem almost too in control of her body – she moves like an all-knowing woman, rather than an uncaring girl, which is how I always think of Salome. However, as I say, her voice was pronounced and filled the role fantastically, particularly when she was demanding the head of Jokanaan. On the other hand, I was a little disappointed by her penultimate aria (Ah, du wolltest mich nicht deinen Mund küssen lassen). It had some extremely strong points and the visual of her with the head is incredibly powerful, but she couldn’t command my complete attention throughout, as is so necessary. Or perhaps I am just too used to listening to Behrens sing that part so extraordinarily well.
One part of Denoke’s performance which seemed absolutely perfect was her too brief interaction with Andrew Staples’ Narraboth. Although Staples’ voice didn’t stand out particularly, his physicality and performance as an actor were beyond reproach. Just the way he looked at Salome was enough to win me over to his performance. Likewise, Sarah Castle’s Page watched him through eyes which clearly foresaw tragedy. However, her voice has rather more to be said about it. Desperately tragic and raw she was quite brilliant; a joy to behold.
Other notable performances came from Nicolas Courjal’s fabulous and deep voiced First Soldier and Royal Opera regular Jeremy White as the Fifth Jew. Both were very enjoyable. It is also always a pleasure to see the Jette Parker Young Artists amongst the cast: Robert Anthony Gardiner, Steven Ebel and Dawid Kimberg were all wonderful to see, and I only wish they had been singing more prominent roles.
Finally, of course, we come to Johan Reuter’s turn as Jokanaan. This is a part which carries so much weight vocally and within the story, and following in the admirable footsteps of Michael Volle (who sang the role in 2008) is no small feat. But Reuter rose to the challenge and even went further. It cannot be denied that he is poignantly better looking than Volle, which certainly helps with the interaction between him and Salome, but moreover, his voice is just astonishingly rich – the type to rival greats such as Tomlinson – and the power with which he sang was really quite remarkable. I will most definitely be watching him in the future.
The main thing about this production which irritates me is the set, designed by Es Devlin. It is brilliant for the most part – particularly the curved stairway – and beautifully lit, but there are one or two small flaws. The first is the decision to have the dining hall above the main set, especially as it is in such a way that you cannot see all of the room above, but just a glimpse. While this is a good idea in theory, it actually annoys the eyesight when you look at the stage. Thankfully, when not in use, it is covered by a black screen, so you do feel, as the opera progresses that this error is corrected. The other problem I have is with the sets for the Dance of the Seven Veils. McVicar’s decision to have this as a journey through Salome’s childhood and adolescence is questionable anyway, but it is not helped by the doorways which move across the stage as they go from room to room, distracting from the dancing itself (of which there is very little) and the music. Also, as this occurs, slow moving pieces of black and white video are projected onto the back screen, and to be honest, not all of these pieces are much to look at. However, the way in which the main set is pulled back into the darkness at the beginning of the dance, and then brought forward out of the shadows at the end, is a stroke of genius. The strength of this visual had my heart pounding in my chest and my skin tingling.
There is one part of this production with which I cannot find fault, and that is the wondrous music rising from the orchestra pit. Conducted by Hartmut Haenchen I have rarely heard the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House on such good form, which is really saying something. They were tightly held together, but with fluidity and room to breathe, and no where was this so prominent than during the Dance of the Seven Veils. Just breathtaking.
Overall I cannot fairly say this is a perfect production, because it simply isn’t. But none of it’s flaws take away from those powerful, heart-pounding moments, of which this production is full. If nothing else, this is a piece of music which I consider to be the composer’s masterpiece, and which is always a joy to hear, particularly when performed by such a brilliant orchestra.
Duncan Meadows as Naaman & Nadja Michael as Salome in McVicar's 2008 production of Salome for ROH
