Salome, Op. 54, is an opera in one act by Richard Strauss. The libretto is Hedwig Lachmann's German translation of the 1891 French play Salomé by Oscar Wilde, edited by the composer. Strauss dedicated the opera to his friend Sir Edgar Speyer.
The opera is famous (at the time of its premiere, was infamous) for its "Dance of the Seven Veils".
Composition history Oscar Wilde originally wrote his Salomé in French. Strauss saw the Lachmann version of the play in Max Reinhardt's production at the Kleines Theater in Berlin on 15 November 1902, and immediately set to work on an opera. The play's formal structure was well-suited to musical adaptation. Wilde himself described Salomé as containing "refrains whose recurring motifs make it so like a piece of music and bind it together as a ballad". Strauss pared down Lachmann's German text to what he saw as its essentials, and in the process reduced it by nearly half, which included removing some of Wilde's recurring motifs.
Strauss composed the opera to a German libretto, and that is the version that has become widely known. In 1907, Strauss made an alternate version in French, working with the musicologist Romain Rolland with the objective of retaining as much of the Wilde original as possible, a procedure which also required alterations to the musical score. This French version was used by Mary Garden, the world's most famous proponent of the role, when she sang the opera in New York, Chicago, Milwaukee, Paris, and other cities. Marjorie Lawrence sang the role both in French (for Paris) and in German (for the Metropolitan Opera, New York) in the 1930s. The French version is much less well known today, although it was revived in Lyon in 1990, and recorded by Kent Nagano with Karen Huffstodt in the title role and José van Dam as Jochanaan. In 2011, the French version was staged by Opéra Royal de Wallonie in Liège, starring June Anderson.
Performance history The combination of the Christian biblical theme, the erotic, and the murderous, which so attracted Wilde to the tale, shocked opera audiences from its first appearance. Some of the original performers were very reluctant to handle the material as written and the Salome, Marie Wittich, "refused to perform the 'Dance of the Seven Veils, thus creating a situation where a dancer stood in for her. This precedent has been largely followed, one early notable exception being that of Aino Ackté, whom Strauss himself dubbed "the one and only Salome".Charles Reid, Thomas Beecham: An Independent Biography, 1961, p. 103
Salome is found in Mark 6:22-6:23 in the New Testament of the Bible.
Salome was first performed at the Königliches Opernhaus in Dresden on 9 December 1905, and within two years, it had been given in 50 other opera houses.
Gustav Mahler could not gain the consent of the Vienna censor to have it performed; therefore it was not given at the Vienna State Opera until 1918. The Austrian premiere was given at the Graz Opera in 1906 under the composer, with Arnold Schoenberg, Giacomo Puccini, Alban Berg, and Gustav Mahler in the audience.
Salome was banned in London by the Lord Chamberlain's office until 1907. When it was given its premiere performance at Covent Garden in London under Thomas Beecham on 8 December 1910, it was modified, much to Beecham's annoyance and later amusement. In his autobiography, A Mingled Chime, Beecham disclosed that some of the performers had ignored the amended text, but nobody noticed. He went on to observe that "Salome served the useful purpose of filling the house every night it was played."
In some German productions, the severed head of the baptist was covered.
The United States premiere took place at a special performance by the Metropolitan Opera with Olive Fremstad in the title role with the dance performed by Bianca Froehlich on 22 January 1907. The mixed reviews were summarized "that musicians were impressed by the power displayed by the composer" but "the story is repugnant to Anglo-Saxon minds." Afterwards, under pressure from wealthy patrons (notably including Lisa Pierpont Morgan, daughter of financier J. P. Morgan), "further performances were cancelled" after the first night and it was not performed there again until 1934. These patrons entreated the visiting Edward Elgar to lead the objections to the work, but he refused point-blank, stating that Strauss was "the greatest genius of the age".Liner notes to the recording of Salome with Birgit Nilsson and the Vienna Philharmonic under Georg Solti. Decca Records, 19XX
Mary Garden's performance of the French version of Salome took place at the Oscar Hammerstein Opera in New York in 1909, in direct competition with the Met.
In 1930, Strauss took part in a festival of his music at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, and conducted Salome on 5 November in a version with a slightly reduced orchestration (dictated by the size of the pit).
Today, Salome is a well-established part of the operatic repertoire; there are numerous recordings. It has a typical duration of 100 minutes.
Roles
+RoleVoice typePremiere cast, 9 December 1905Conductor: Ernst von SchuchHerodes, Tetrarch of Judaea and PereaheldentenorKarel BurianHerodias, his wife (and sister-in-law)mezzo-sopranoIrene von ChavanneSalome, his stepdaughter (and niece)sopranoMarie WittichJochanaan (John the Baptist)baritoneKarl PerronNarraboth, Captain of the GuardtenorRudolf JägerThe Page of HerodiascontraltoRiza EibenschützFirst JewtenorHans RüdigerSecond JewtenorHans SavilleThird JewtenorGeorg GroschFourth JewtenorAnton ErlFifth JewbassLeon RainsFirst NazarenebassFriedrich PlaschkeSecond Nazarene tenorTheodor KruisFirst soldierbassFranz NebuschkaSecond soldierbassHans Erwin (Hans Erwin Hey)A CappadocianbassErnst WachterA slavesoprano/tenorMaria KeldorferRoyal guests (Egyptians and Romans), and entourage, servants, soldiers (all silent)
Synopsis
A great terrace in the Palace of Herod, set above the banqueting hall. Soldiers are leaning over the balcony. On the right there is a gigantic staircase, to the left, at the back, an old cistern surrounded by a wall of green bronze. The moon is shining very brightly.
Narraboth gazes from a terrace in Herod's palace into the banquet hall at the beautiful Princess Salome; he is in love with her, and apotheosizes her, much to the disgusted fearfulness of the Page of Herodias. The voice of the Prophet Jochanaan is heard from his prison in the palace cistern; Herod fears him and has ordered that no one should contact him, including Jerusalem's High Priest.
Tired of the feast and its guests, Salome flees to the terrace. When she hears Jochanaan cursing her mother (Herodias), Salome's curiosity is piqued. The palace guards will not honor her petulant orders to fetch Jochanaan for her, so she teasingly works on Narraboth to bring Jochanaan before her. Despite the orders he has received from Herod, Narraboth finally gives in after she promises to smile at him.
Jochanaan emerges from the cistern and shouts prophecies regarding Herod and Herodias that no one understands, except Salome when the Prophet refers to her mother. Upon seeing Jochanaan, Salome is filled with an overwhelming desire for him, praising his white skin and asking to touch it, but he rejects her. She then praises his black hair, again asking to touch it, but is rejected once more. She finally begs for a kiss from Jochanaan's lips, and Narraboth, who cannot bear to hear this, kills himself. As Jochanaan is returned to the well, he preaches salvation through the Messiah.
Herod enters, followed by his wife and court. He slips in Narraboth's blood and starts hallucinating. He hears the beating of wings. Despite Herodias' objections, Herod stares lustfully at Salome, who rejects him. Jochanaan harasses Herodias from the well, calling her incestuous marriage to Herod sinful. She demands that Herod silence him. Herod refuses, and she mocks his fear. Five Jews argue concerning the nature of God. Two Nazarenes tell of Christ's miracles; at one point they bring up the raising of Jairus' daughter from the dead, which Herod finds frightening.
Herod asks for Salome to eat with him, drink with him; indolently, she twice refuses, saying she is not hungry or thirsty. Herod then begs Salome to dance for him, Tanz für mich, Salome, though her mother objects. He promises to reward her with her heart's desire—even if it were one half of his kingdom.
After Salome inquires into his promise, and he swears to honor it, she prepares for the "Dance of the Seven Veils". This dance, very oriental in orchestration, has her slowly removing her seven veils, until she lies naked at his feet. Salome then demands the head of the prophet on a silver platter. Her mother cackles in pleasure. Herod tries to dissuade her with offers of jewels, peacocks, and the sacred veil of the Temple. Salome remains firm in her demand for Jochanaan's head, forcing Herod to accede to her demands. After a desperate monologue by Salome, an executioner emerges from the well and delivers the severed head as she requested.
Salome now declares her love for the severed head, caressing it and kissing the prophet's dead lips passionately. Horrified, Herod orders his soldiers, "Kill that woman!" They rush forward and crush Salome under their shields.
Instrumentation
Strauss scored Salome for the following large orchestra: Woodwinds: piccolo, 3 flutes, 2 oboes, English horn, heckelphone, E-flat clarinet, 2 clarinets in B-flat, 2 clarinets in A, bass clarinet, 3 bassoons, contrabassoon Brass: 6 horns, 4 trumpets, 4 trombones, tuba Percussion (8–9 players): 5 timpani, snare drum, bass drum, 1 pair of crash cymbals, suspended cymbal. triangle, tam-tam (gong), tambourine, 1 pair of castanets, glockenspiel, xylophone Keyboards: celesta, harmonium (offstage), organ (offstage) Strings: 2 harps, 16 1st violins, 16 2nd violins, 10–12 violas, 10 cellos, 8 double basses The instrumentation contains several notes for strings and woodwinds that are unplayable because they are too low; Strauss was aware of this.
Music
The music of Salome includes a system of leitmotifs, or short melodies with rich and symbolic meanings. Some are clearly associated with people such as Salome and Jochanaan (John the Baptist). Others are more abstract in meaning. Strauss's use of leitmotifs is complex, with both symbolism and musical form subject to ambiguity and transformation. Some leitmotifs, especially those associated with Herod, change frequently in form and symbolic meaning, making it futile to pin them down to a specific meaning. Strauss provided names for some of the leitmotifs, but not consistently, and other people have assigned a variety of names. These names often illustrate the ambiguity of certain leitmotifs. For example, Gilman's labels tend to be abstract (such as "Yearning", "Anger", and "Fear"), while Otto Roese's are more concrete (he called Gilman's "Fear" leitmotif "Herod's Scale"). Regarding the important leitmotif associated with Jochanaan, which has two parts, Gilman called the first part "Jochanaan" and the second part "Prophecy", while Roese labels them the other way around. Labels for the leitmotifs are common, but there is no final authority. Derrick Puffett cautions against reading too much into any such labels. In addition to the leitmotifs, there are many symbolic uses of musical color in the opera's music. For example, a tambourine sounds every time a reference to Salome's dance is made.
The harmony of Salome makes use of extended tonality, chromaticism, a wide range of keys, unusual modulations, tonal ambiguity, and polytonality. Some of the major characters have keys associated with them, such as Salome and Jochanaan, as do some of the major psychological themes, such as desire and death.