Germany R. Strauss, Salome: Soloists and Chorus of Theater Bremen, Bremer Philharmoniker / Stefan Klingele (conductor). Theater Bremen, 14.2.2024. (DMD)
Production:
Director – Ulrike Schwab
Stage design – Rebekka Dornhege Reyes
Costume design – Marina Stefan, Lena Schmid
Costume design assistant – Martha Lange
Lighting design – Norman Plathe-Narr
Dramaturgy – Caroline Scheidegger
Chorus director – Noori Cho
Cast:
Herod – Christian-Andreas Engelhardt
Herodias – Nadine Lehner
Salome – Yannick-Muriel Noah
Jochanaan – Michał Partyka
Narraboth – Oliver Sewell
Page – Constanze Jader
First Jew – Ian Spinetti
Second Jew – Junho Oh
Third Jew – Luis Olivares Sandoval
Fourth Jew – Stefan Hahn
Fifth Jew / A Kappadocian – Bruno Vargas
First Nazarene / 2. Soldier – Hidenori Inoue
Second Nazarene – Jörg Sändig
First Soldier – Christoph Heinrich
Salome as a child – Queency Inez Afia Kyere
The story of Salome is part of history, frequently revisited. A typical site for viewing history is a museum. Hence the set for this Bremen Salome resembled an idea of a backroom storage area in a museum, with objects such as computer monitors, structures of plaster and marble and building site scaffolding across several levels. This area extended to the front row of the auditorium, thus bringing the action very close indeed to the spectators. The orchestra was placed behind the scaffolding rather than in the pit. A balcony was visible above the orchestra and there were two boxes on the left and right above the stage. Salome’s spaces within this set were a circular, very shallow pool of water at the centre, surrounding the lid of the cistern in which Jochanaan was kept prisoner, and one platform higher up on the scaffold. The other characters rarely entered Salome’s space: instead, they were located on the balcony areas as well as the sides of the pool area, which was presented as a slightly rocky, layered landscape. The costumes supported the impression of the set’s museum character. For example, Herod and Herodias first appeared in uncouth fur costumes that made them look like members of a pre-historical tribe. Jochanaan wore a tight-fitting shiny mauve suit, Salome changed her costume several times over the course of the evening. The lighting design made use of the full depth of the stage. Thus, the back wall of the stage was covered by a curtain lit in blue for most of the evening but changing to blood-red for when Salome requested Jochanaan’s head as her reward for her dance.
The production was gripping, but not only thanks to a striking set and costumes. Ulrike Schwab’s development of the characters was equally imaginative in terms of detail and innovation. The proximity of the singers to the audience allowed such detail to come across much more vividly than at a distance, from the seating area across the orchestra pit to the stage. When Salome embarked on her dance for Herod, she pushed the conductor off the podium and conducted the music for the dance herself. Meanwhile, the conductor filmed her, and the images of Salome conducting the orchestra were projected onto the walls framing the stage on the left and right, above the rocky landscape. Spoiler alert: at the end of the opera, we do not see Jochanaan’s cut-off head. A bundle, which may well contain a body, wrapped in brilliant white cloth, without blood stains, comes up from the cistern. Salome lifts the bundle up slightly, presumably where the head is located, hugs it, and puts it down. The bundle starts moving, and Salome as a child, perhaps eight years old, appears from the sheet – a major surprise, leading to a notable gasp from the audience. Salome and the child hug. A genuinely moving ending.
Placing the orchestra behind and on the same level as the singers had an impact not only on the staging but on the acoustics as well, allowing the orchestra full sound, in line with Strauss’s score, without ever facing the risk of drowning the singers. Bremen Theatre’s music director Stefan Klingele led the orchestra with clear intentions and gestures, which communicated well via monitors to the singers placed behind his back. Arcs were established, nuances of speed and rhythm finely observed and accentuated. Guest soprano Yannick-Muriel Noah sang Salome. She has developed her career from her base at the Bonn Opera company, where she has worked since 2013. She was fully at ease with the entire wide vocal range of Salome, able to alternate within split seconds between spot-on expressions of the respective emotions of this extremely volatile character. Transitions were seamless, the voice always sounded full, well placed, secure; it was never shrill or in any other way unpleasant, which is sometimes considered unavoidable for a ‘good’ Salome.
The other characters were cast with members of the resident Bremen company. Christian-Andreas Engelhardt sang Herod with firm voice, much more in the Heldentenor tradition than character tenor, which has been a frequent casting choice for this role. He combined vocal and physical expression of his character’s problematic nature equally well, overcome with lust, later with remorse. Casting Herodias as a younger rather than a much older woman represented a further imaginative and impressive directorial choice. Herod lusted after Salome in addition to lusting after his wife, adding a further layer to the depiction of decadence. Herodias’s own decadence comes across in the way she devours an apple and finishes off the contents of a pack of crisps in no time. Often the character of Herodias is sung by an eminent artist nearing the end of her career. We then admire what that singer can still achieve, and are reminded, by implication, of her past glory. Here we were allowed to hear a full vocal presentation of the character, able to appreciate what Strauss has composed. Nadine Lehner’s voice was radiant and glowing, fully controlled across the ranges and with consistent vibrato. With Herodias she has added a further remarkable portrayal to her repertory, which she has developed over the years in the Bremen company. Michał Partyka as Jochanaan exuded an excess of self-confidence and corresponding exaggerated arrogance and self-righteousness, again both vocally and through his acting. His voice was steely, steady, and ringing. The smaller characters were cast with members of the chorus and further company soloists, with Oliver Sewell standing out as Narraboth with his bright, clear tenor voice.
Daniel Meyer-Dinkgräfe
Featured Image: Theater Bremen