Review: Salome, Opera North, Leeds Town Hall, Thursday, April 19, 2018

OSCAR Wilde’s controversial play dramatises the biblical episode of Salome, the spoilt teenage step- daughter of Herod Antipas, Tetrach of Judea. The infatuated Herod caves into Salome’s notorious demand to be given the head of the imprisoned Jokanaan (John the Baptist) on a silver platter. Jokanaan rejected Salome’s advances. She remains determined to kiss his lips - even in death.

Richard Strauss adapted Wilde’s text as the libretto for his opera which focuses on the not-so-holy trinity of Salome, Jokanaan and Herod. Salome’s sensational 1905 Dresden premiere scandalised audiences but delighted its composer. Strauss packs into a single Act of just over a hundred minutes one of the most visceral and shocking of all operatic experiences.

Opera North’s concert staging relieves Salome of the theatrical baggage of scenery, costumes and gruesome accessories, but it still delivers a knockout punch. A huge orchestral panoply glowingly evokes the claustrophobic atmosphere and smouldering erotisicm of this murderous tale. The Orchestra of Opera North’s strength of ninety musicians somewhat scales down Strauss’s extravagant requirement for an orchestra of 120. Nonetheless, the shimmering opulence and explosive force of this music conducted by Sir Richard Armstrong and bathed in the spacious acoustic of Leeds Town Hall will remain etched in the memory.

American soprano Jennifer Holloway’s Salome has the tonal colours, beauty of line and vocal heft to soar over the lush orchestration. She does not totally eclipse memories of Susan Bullock’s unnervingly childlike Salome in this Hall back in 2006. Robert Hayward’s grizzled Jokanaan might not exactly match Salome’s ecstatic physical description. Vocally though, Hayward is in magisterial form whether singing on stage or from his ‘dungeon’ somewhere below the orchestra. Dutch heldentenor Arnold Bezuyen superbly portrays Herod as the jittery and dangerously unstable ruler. He is utterly dominated by his wife Herodias, sung by Swedish mezzo Katerina Karneus with manipulative vocal nuance. A strong cast of supporting characters include standout performances from Heather Lowe as the Page of Herodias, Oliver Johnston as Narraboth, Alexander Banfield as Second Nazarene and Jihoon Kim as Fifth Jew. The Orchestra leaves the most indelible impression with the moonlit beauty of Salome’s long final soliloquy followed by the enormous discordant tuttis depicting her execution. Salome has been crushed to death beneath the shields of Herod’s guards.

Geoffrey Mogridge