Salome in the Finnish National Opera, the 22nd of March, 2022

Who doesn’t know the story of Salome from the Bible: the daughter of Herodias – Salome – dances at the party of King Herod so beautifully that Herod promises to fulfill any wish of hers. Salome’s mother urges her to wish for the head of John the Baptist on a plate and Herod is compelled to fulfill his promise. The opera by Richard Strauss is based on the play by Oscar Wilde and the Finnish National Opera is now showing director Christof Loy’s further adapted version of this opera. In Loy’s version the innocent and admired Salome falls in love with Jochanaan (John the Baptist) and thus falls off her pedestal in the eyes of other men. So, she can be abused. And when in the end Salome sings to the head of Jochanaan, he is a silent living man, with whom she leaves in the end. So, the end can be interpreted instead of insane woman’s ramblings also as happy, fulfilled love.  

The set design by Johannes Leiacker is in practice an almost empty white stage and Robby Duiveman’s costume design is based on black and white colours, the only exception being the red shoes of Herodias. But it all works superbly and the strict colour scheme just emphasizes the stunning music, strong story and deep feelings. Christof Loy has created a masterpiece that can be seen more than once.  

The orchestra of the National Opera and the conductor Hannu Lintu are once again in great shape and the main roles have exceptionally good singers. Nikolai Schukoff in the role Herod has just the right amount of sliminess as the king who covets his own stepdaughter and Karin Lovelius makes the role of her life as Herodias, who has sunk to the bottle and realizes that her glory days are over. Andrew Foster-Williams in the role of Jochanaan is suitably zealous; a man that sees the destruction coming, but is unwilling and unable to stop it. And, of course, the queen of the night is Vida Miknevičiūtė as Salome. Excellent acting and a magnificent strong voice, that had no difficulties to reach over the thundering orchestra, but also conveys a spectre of feelings in pianissimo. If you haven’t seen this Salome yet, it definitely pays to go see it. There are still some performances left and they all have some tickets available.