Reviewed by James Karas
In 2013 Atom Egoyan, the brilliant film director, put his own stamp on Richard Strauss’s Salome when he staged the opera for the Canadian Opera Company. That production is revived for the COC’s current season and it has lost none of its luster.
Egoyan brings much of his cinematic expertise to the production and we get a riveting Salome. He makes extensive use of projections including for the always problematic dance by Salome for her step-father, the lecherous and unhinged Herod, Tetrarch of Judea.
A few plot points. Herod (Michael Schade) is married to Herodias (Karita Mattia), his late brother’s wife. Her daughter Salome, a girl in her teens, has developed an obsessive attraction, make that lust, for St. John the Baptist, Jochanaan in the opera, (Michael Kupfer-Radecky) who is a prisoner of Herod’s. The saint is kept in a cistern under the palace terrace and can be heard fulminating through a hole.
Egoyan’s production is set entirely on the terrace of the palace which consists of green-gray concrete walls with a few openings. It fits his dark and gloomy view of the opera. The floor is slanted and we see the basement below where the Baptist is imprisoned. There are projections above the terrace showing a kaleidoscope of scenes. At first, we see Salome luxuriating in a swimming pool and then a projection of the Baptist’s mouth as he announces the coming of the Son of Man and condemns Herod and Herodias for their sinful life. The view of his mouth projected on the screen gives us direct contact with the Baptist who otherwise is supposed to sing through a hole in the floor.
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Soprano Ambur Braid has the toughest role in the opera and her performance is simply superb. She has a big, powerful voice and throughout the opera and especially in the long final scene she gives outstanding results. In the final scene, she holds the bloodied head of the Baptist, kisses the lips in triumph for having him be headed and in defeat at being unable to get him to return her passion. She shows a huge emotional range as demanded by Strauss and it is a thrill to see and hear her.
Baritone Kupfer-Radecky sings with the sonorous and powerful intonations of a believer who condemns sinners and rejects Salome’s powerful expressions of passionate love. She is clearly psychologically unbalanced in her love for him but it is beyond control. Christ’s disciple is not moved.
Tenor Michael Schade gives us a Herod who is clearly deranged in his lust for his stepdaughter, his fear of putting the strange Jochanaan to death and a man driven to the edge by Salome’s refusal to dance for him. Numerous offers do not sway Salome and “Half my kingdom for a dance” does not cut it until he promises “anything” and he gets his way. Schade was not always at his best and at times sounded strident or was overpowered by the orchestra. It may be because he was acting like a lunatic that he gave that impression.
Karita Mattila sang Herodias quite effectively. She gave impressive performances as Salome at the Met about 15 years ago and her voice may have deteriorated over time. Her Herodias was generally good but at 62, it is a very commendable performance.
Salome’s dance is sometimes considered of central importance to the opera, probably influenced by memories of Rita Hayworth doing the Dance of the Seven Veils for a leering Charles Laughton in the 1953 film. There are few singers who can dance and directors must find a way of presenting it. Egoyan uses video projections showing. Salome on a swing with various backgrounds. He uses shadow performers (Clea Minaker and Faye Dupras) to do the dancing to the revival choreography of Julia Aplin. We realize that Salome was abused as a young girl and that may explain her conduct towards John who may have been the only man who did not abuse her. Does she kill him in order to make love to him?
The costumes by Catherine Zuber were from “any era” that you want. Captain Naraboth (Frederic Antoun) wore a khaki-coloured suit and tie and the guards sported the same colour costume that blended with the colours of the walls of the terrace. The arguing Jews wore white as did Herod and Herodias. The latter had orange gowns on top. Salome wore a bathing suit and a white gown at the start and a white gown later. They were adequate.
Strauss’s music requires an orchestra of Wagnerian proportions with 105 players. It is one of those operas where the music dominates, making the life of the singers more difficult than usual. The COC Orchestra under Johannes Debus gave us a full concert’s worth of a performance.
Egoyan adds his own touch to the end of the opera. According to the libretto, Herod orders the guards to kill Salome. In this production, Herod grabs Salome and is about to strangle her when the lights go out. End of the opera.
This is an extraordinary production by any measuring stick and a Salome not to be missed.
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Salome by Richard Strauss opened on February 3 and will be performed seven times
until February 24, 2023, on various dates at the Four Seasons Centre for the
Performing Arts, 145 Queen Street West, Toronto,
Ontario. Tel: 416-363-6671. www.coc.ca
James Karas is the Senior Editor - Culture of The Greek Press. This review appears in the newspaper.
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