THIS SALOME IS NO FEMME FATALE

Like its source material (Oscar Wilde’s play Salomé), Richard Strauss’ opera Salome has a reputation for being scandalous, decadent, and daring. Unfortunately, Lyric Opera’s new-to-Chicago production is none of the above. This is partly because some elements of the play (premiered in 1896) and opera (premiered in 1905) that were scandalous, decadent, and daring when first staged are no longer so. Yet it is perhaps more so that Original Director Sir David McVicar’s vision for this production is incoherent and uninspiring. Nevertheless, the production remains compelling, more for its talented cast (sans chorus), tremendous orchestra, and haunting score.

Alex Boyer as Herod and Jennifer Holloway as Salomé

Originally written in French, Wilde’s Salomé was a one-act play that boldly reimagined the biblical story of a minor, enigmatic character. As told in the Gospels, King Herod asks the daughter of Herodias, his second wife, to dance for him, offering to give her anything she desires. The unnamed girl, prompted by her mother, asks for the head of Jokanaan, or John the Baptist, on a silver platter. Following the Jewish historian Josephus, Wilde names her Salome. He imagines her falling in love with Jokanaan, who rejects her. When Herod offers her anything for a dance, she takes her revenge on Jokanaan, without prompting from her mother, by asking for his head, which she then kisses and cradles lovingly, before a disgusted Herod orders her execution also. Wilde’s Salome is immature, yet complex, one who wields seductive power without understanding it. Her dialogue with Jokanaan borders on the absurd, as Salome professes to love his body one minute and hate it the next.

Strauss remained faithful to Wilde’s source material as he crafted the libretto himself, using Hedwig Lachmann’s German translation. Audience members will mostly follow the dialogue in English translation–fortunately not in the published translation by Wilde’s lover Lord Alfred Douglas. The opera’s supertitles eschew Douglas’ archaic style, likely inspired by the King James Bible. The result of Strauss’ edits is a one-act opera textually more compact than Wilde’s play, though much expanded musically, especially in his exotic scoring of the Dance of the Seven Veils. Salome runs 100 minutes without intermission.

Jennifer Holloway, Tanja Ariane Baumgarten, and Alex Boyer

Lyric last staged Salome twenty years ago. The current production premiered eighteen-years ago at the Royal Opera House in London. Its original director was Sir David McVicar, whose productions have been prolifically staged at Lyric, including this season’s opening production of Cherubini’s Medea. Unlike the stunning direction of that opera, McVicar’s direction of Salome is more akin to his direction of Strauss’ Elektra, which was similarly incoherent and uninspiring.

McVicar changes the opera’s first-century Palestinian setting to pre-war fascist Italy. One might have expected something like Pasolini’s Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom, a cinematic indictment of Italian fascism that remains controversial and difficult to watch fifty years after its premiere. Fortunately, Salome is nothing like that. There’s a nod to decadence in the two or three half-naked actresses onstage, but it’s rather tame compared to Lyric’s 2015 production of Tannhäuser. 

Jennifer Holloway as Salome and Alex Boyer as Herod

Instead of a beautiful Italian palazzo or al fresco setting, designer Es Devlin gives us an ugly basement with open showers, reminiscent of a locker room or Nazi gas chamber. Despite all of the libretto’s references to the appearance of the moon, we have to imagine it because there are no windows. Though Devlin’s costume designs evoke the period well, some choices (McVicar’s?) are odd. Why does the executioner wear only a coat? When he strips it off to execute Jokanaan, we see his completely nude back side–perhaps the most daring choice of the whole production! Why do some of the Jews (five cast members are designated First Jew, Second Jew, etc) wear prayer shawls at a banquet? If it was to visually identify them as Jewish, this could easily have been accomplished in other, more appropriate, ways.

McVicar does some interesting things with the Dance of the Seven Veils. Instead of stripping off a succession of veils, as the title of the dance implies, his Salome dances through seven rooms that slowly move across the stage from left to right. Some of these rooms have projections on the back wall or props. In one room, Salome strips off her dress to reveal a simple white slip underneath only to don a new dress in a later room. The whole scene heightens the intimacy between Salome and Herod, who accompanies her and assists her wardrobe changes.

The Cast

The director also relies on a lot of standing around while singing, especially during the early scenes. Yet one character who does move a lot is Jokanaan, who spends most of his onstage appearances (as opposed to his offstage singing) oddly writhing on the floor covered in dirt. I would have thought such a morally upright character would show more dignity. Moreover, the writhing and filth renders Salome’s instant attraction to him even less believable.

Jennifer Holloway, making her Lyric debut, comes highly acclaimed for her numerous portrayals of the eponymous protagonist, yet her performance was underwhelming. She has a beautiful, strong voice, but it did not always rise above the orchestra. Moreover, her acting did not capture the right balance of youthful innocence and lovesick mania. Part of the problem lies in Strauss’ impossible scoring of a teenage role with a mature, womanly voice. Nevertheless, Holloway failed to convey her character’s youth and naivete. 

Nicholas Brownlee and Jennifer Holloway

I was looking forward to seeing Brandon Jovanovich playing Herod, but at the opening performance his role was filled by Lyric debut tenor Alex Boyer. He acquitted himself surprisingly well; one would never have guessed that he was a substitute. Despite his writhing on the floor, Nicholas Brownlee, in another Lyric debut, sang the role of Jokanaan impressively and expertly. His powerful bass-baritone and clear diction stunningly rendered Strauss’ heroic harmonics. 

Other notable performances include Ryan Capozzo as Narraboth, captain of the king’s guard, and Catherine Martin as Herodias’ page. Capozzo, an alumnus of the Ryan Opera Center, gave outstanding performances in Carmen and The Flying Dutchman (both in 2023). His lovelorn character is perhaps one of the most attractive and sympathetic of the whole production. Singing alongside him, Martin’s mezzo-soprano boasts a lovely, lissome tone. I look forward to seeing both return to Lyric in larger roles.

Jennifer Holloway

McVicar’s direction tends to be polarizing. This production is clearly not one of his best, though one would expect his usual style to be quite suitable for such a dark, tragic opera. But Salome also includes some of Wilde’s famous wit, which rarely comes through. Above all, Salome shows Strauss at the height of his compositional power. The score’s daringly dissonant chords, rich textures, melodic motifs, and magnificent climaxes strike a delicate balance between challenging and enchanting the listener. It is an opera not to be missed, one that Lyric should program more often than every twenty years.

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photos by Kyle Flubbacker

Salome
Lyric Opera of Chicago
Civic Opera House, 20 N. Wacker Drive
1 hours, 40 minutes, no intermission
ends on February 14, 2026
for tickets, call 312.827.5600 or visit Lyric Opera

for more shows, visit Theatre in Chicago

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