Eros and Gospels
GIUSEPPE
PENNISI was in Naples
for Richard Strauss' 'Salome'
Salome by
Richard
Strauss returned to Naples
sixteen years after the last performance in
the San Carlo Opera
House. At the same venue in February 1908, the composer
had conducted
eleven performances of
the first of his operas to
be appreciated worldwide.
I was at the early evening
performance at 6pm on 18 November 2014.
This brand new production
celebrates Strauss'
one hundred and fifth birthday
and also the United Nations International
Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women
(25 November).
Salome productions
tend to fall between two stools: either decadent stage setting
and acting —
it seems that Strauss picked up the subject
after admiring a Gustave Moreau painting —
or in the Hollywood
1950s 'peplum' movie style —
eg William Dieterle's 1953 film
with Rita Hayworth as the protagonist
with a curious happy ending, namely the conversion of the Princess to
Christianity.
 Natascha Petrinsky as Herodias, Kim Begley as Herodes, two soliers and Annemarie Kremer in the title role of Richard Strauss' 'Salome' at the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples. Photo © 2014 Francesco Squeglia. Click on the image for higher resolution |
Fortunately, stage
director Manfred Schweigkofler avoids both styles.
He sets
the plot in
contemporary times,
in the grand, gross and inelegant palace of
a vicious and luxurious Middle East ruler. The stage set (by Nicola Rubertelli)
consists of a few essential elements,
with a huge mirror over the scene,
reflecting oversize Chagall-style frescoes. Apart from giving the plot a
universal modern flair,
Schweigkofler follows St Mark and St Mathew's Gospels very closely — as well as
some other biblical texts. As a result, Princess Salome is not a femme fatale
or the culprit. She is the main victim of the corrupt environment, especially
of her mother Herodias who made her own daughter a
baby doll sex worker.
 Annemarie Kremer in the title role of Richard Strauss' 'Salome' at the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples. Photo © 2014 Francesco Squeglia. Click on the image for higher resolution |
Salome is extremely young
but already perverted. She declines the marriage
offer by Syrian Prince
Narraboth who, for this reason, commits suicide.
She is attracted by the chaste John the Baptist (named Jochanaan in the opera).
As he refuses her, she dances
for the pleasure of the ruler, Herodes, and asks the prophet's head in payment.
Under the eyes of all, she has an orgasm on the beheaded body. This is
excessive even for the ruler, who condemns her to death.
 Annemarie Kremer in the title role of Richard Strauss' 'Salome' at the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples. Photo © 2014 Francesco Squeglia. Click on the image for higher resolution |
In this production, even in the final scene, Salome keeps a childish,
even if corrupt, look. Altogether, this is an intelligent
production, faithful to the Scriptures and full of drama,
also due to the quality of
the main singers as
actors.
 Annemarie Kremer as Salome surrounded by dancers, with Natascha Petrinsky as Herodias, Kim Begley as Herodes and courtesans in Richard Strauss' 'Salome' at the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples. Photo © 2014 Francesco Squeglia. Click on the image for higher resolution |
But the real challenge of
performing Salome is the music. Strauss indulged himself in a huge orchestra
with quadruple woodwind,
including a heckelphone — a rare instrument
from the oboe family —
while frequently reducing his forces to a chamber
music scale.
Fundamentally tonal, albeit with some atonal passages,
Strauss administers some highly skilled and highly calculated shocks, such as
(in Gabriel
Fauré's words),
cruel dissonances that defy any explanation. Seventy-seven-year-old conductor
Gabriele Ferro, a specialist in this type of repertory,
brings to the pit the slow decadent approach
that Schweigkofler kicks off the stage. The blend works quite well due to the
excellent performance of the San Carlo Theater Orchestra. Tempos
are expanded and slowed to provide more emphasis to
the crescendo in the overwhelming finale.
The performance lasts some fifteen minutes longer than Zubin
Mehta's, or Karl Bohm's reference recording.
 Kim Begley as Herodes, Woo-Kyung Kim as Narraboth and Annemarie Kremer in the title role of Richard Strauss' 'Salome' at the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples. Photo © 2014 Francesco Squeglia. Click on the image for higher resolution |
In the vocal cast,
the male
group is of quite high standard —
especially Kim Begley (Herodes), Markus Marquardt (Jochanaan) and Woo-Kyung
Kim (Narraboth). In the title role, Annemarie Kremer has the physique du rôle and
excels as an actress; she can also dance
reasonably well. However, she is a coloratura lyric soprano in
the process of making a transition to heavier parts, and has difficulties with
Strauss' impervious dissonances. Natascha Petrinsky is a devilish and perverted
Herodias.
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