First review: Lise Davidsen triumphs as Salome
OperaHugh Kerr of Edinburgh Music Review reports overnight from Paris:
The Bastille was packed for the first night of ‘Salome‘. The large numbers were perhaps not attracted by the production, which was harshly received two years ago. Tonight we were all waiting to see how Lise Davidsen, whom many consider the world’s finest dramatic soprano, would fare in this modern production.
The answer is she triumphed – she turned it into a love story between her and Jochanaan, superbly sung by Johan Reuter They ended up clinging together in an iron cage as Salome sang of her kiss tasting of blood.
There is lots of sex and nudity, but it all happens upstairs behind a glass screen. Our focus was on the front of the stage, where Salome was serenading Jochanaan. It was fabulous singing from them both. Pavel Breslik was also very good as Narraboth – until he (unconventionally) shot himself.
There was no dance of the seven veils. Instead Herodes stripped Salome down to her slip, but then she ravished him and since she towered over Gerhard Siegel this seemed quite believable. Gerhard Seigel was a very convincing nasty little Herod. Ekaterina Gubanova was excellent as Herodias, flouncing around in fake breasts but singing well. Other minor parts were well sung, but the other star of the evening was conductor Mark Wigglesworth and the excellent Paris Opera Orchestra who gave this great Strauss score a superb rendition.
The production by Lydia Steier does major damage to the opera with lots of silly business. The power and the beauty of Lise Davidsen overcame all. Her reception in the Bastille was ecstatic; she took half a dozen curtain calls.
photo: Lise Davidsen takes her bow
Hugh Kerr is the editor of the Edinburgh Music Review. A fuller version of this review will appear there later.
It was a real treat and Lise Davidsen did triumph. But the acoustics in about the first third of the opera were dreadful (the set??) and damaged the beauty and power of Davidesn’s (and others’) voice. It was a real pity.
The Bastille is the kind of place where an audience member coughing is clearer and louder than a singer on stage.
Agree with that.
The French people who attend opera have a long history of conversations, sword fights etc. at the opera dating back to the Baroque period.
My favorite Salome production is still Stratas in 1974 film with Varnay, Weikl and Bohm.
Given Lise Davidsen’s star power, she should have artistic control of the production she’s in. C’mon girl put your foot down and fire these Eurotrash bastard directors. Or maybe she’s a willing, complicit partner in crime? Goes to show you a great vocal artist does not a visual artist make.
Clearly she had no control over the production because (as the review makes clear) it is not new, and this is not its first run. She was hired to appear in a revival of an existing production.
I don’t think any singer has the power to insist that a major house bin a production and create a new one just for her. And she is no “girl”, she is a grown woman.
This is why I endorse the idea of opera singers running an opera house (like Domingo and Kaufmann). They won’t put up with this directorial bull crap. Opera is badly in need of reform to restore singing and singers to supremacy.
Kaufmann had his share of awful regie crap, the dreadful Aida with puppets from Paris, Otello from Munich, to name just two. These days, unfortunately, directors who know nothing about opera, do not hear the music and do not bother studying the libretti, let alone the sources, thus creating spectacles that go against the text, rule the theatres, and management does nothing. Sad..
The era of a star singer calling the shots is long over. Most today are just grateful for the work.
I had my doubts a few years ago about Ms. Davidsen’s abilities, albeit a remarkable instrument, but she has proven herself worthy of all the early hype.
Hopefully, opera companies will honor her talent and hard work and not diminish her artistry with trash productions. Ms. Davidsen deserves better.
Nik, whatever else can be said of zandonai’s comment, “c’mon girl!” is a colloquial American (I think originally African-American) affectionate exhortation to a female of any age, and should not prompt a scolding.
It was that film that converted me to Strauss opera. Don’t forget it was Teresa Stratas sang Salome, very convincingly young, possibly her finest performance. Varnay was Herodias, equally convincingly old and raddled! Production was Götz Friedrich.
Maybe she’s more of a team player and doesn’t feel the need to pull rank? Or maybe she liked the production and endorsed its concept. I hated the production, for what it’s worth.
“Jochanaan, superbly sung by Johan Reuter ” I stopped reading there.
I was there last night. I felt sorry for Lise Davidson (AND Gerard Siegel) having to undergo the director’s ‘interpretation’ of the Dance Of The Seven Veils. Davidsen deserves a better production but her acting skills aren’t of the best.
Super superb! Incredible soprano! Inventive score unmatched, mahleresque and beautifully primal.