Operas by Richard Strauss
Guntram (1894) Feuersnot (1901) Salome (1905) Elektra (1909) Der Rosenkavalier (1911) Ariadne auf Naxos (1912) Die Frau ohne Schatten (1918) Intermezzo (1923) Die ägyptische Helena (1927) Arabella (1932) Die schweigsame Frau (1934) Friedenstag (1938) Daphne (1938) Die Liebe der Danae (1940) Capriccio (1942)
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Salome is an opera in one act by Richard Strauss to a German libretto by the composer, based on Hedwig Lachmann’s German translation of the French play Salomé by Oscar Wilde. Opera is an art form in which Singers and Musicians perform a Dramatic work (called an opera which combines a text (called a Libretto Richard Georg Strauss (11 June 1864 &ndash 8 September 1949 was a German Composer of the late Romantic era and early modern era particularly noted The German language (de ''Deutsch'') is a West Germanic language and one of the world's major languages. A libretto is the text used in an extended Musical work such as an Opera, Operetta, Masque, sacred or secular Oratorio and Hedwig Lachmann ( 29 August 1865 – 21 February 1918) was a German author translator and poet French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people Salome (or in French: Salomé) is a Tragedy by Oscar Wilde.The original 1891 version of the play was in Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 1854 – 30 November 1900 was an Irish Playwright, Novelist, poet and Author of It was first performed at the Hofoper in Dresden on December 9, 1905. The Semperoper is the Opera house of the Saxon State Opera Dresden (German Sächsische Staatsoper Dresden) and the Concert hall of the Sächsische Dresden (etymologically from Old Sorbian Drežďany, meaning people of the riverside forest, Drježdźany is the Capital city of the German Events 536 - Byzantine General Belisarius enters Rome while the Ostrogothic garrison peacefully leaves the city Year 1905 ( MCMV) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting

The opera is famous (at the time of its release, infamous) for its Dance of the Seven Veils. In several notable works of Western culture the Dance of the Seven Veils (usually described as danced by Salomé) is one of the elaborations on the biblical It is now better known for the more shocking final scene (often a concert-piece for Dramatic sopranos), where Salome makes necrophilic love to the severed head of John the Baptist. A dramatic soprano is an operatic Soprano with a powerful rich emotive voice that can sing over a full orchestra Necrophilia, also called thanatophilia and necrolagnia, is the sexual attraction to corpses Saint John the Baptist ( heb. Jochanan ben Sacharja, arab. يحيى Yaḥyā or يوحنا Yūḥanna, aram. Salome is part of the standard operatic repertoire; there are numerous recordings of it.

Roles

Orchestration

Strauss scored Salome for a large orchestra (even larger than Wagner's), but was very specific about how many instruments should play each part. Events 536 - Byzantine General Belisarius enters Rome while the Ostrogothic garrison peacefully leaves the city Year 1905 ( MCMV) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting Ernst Edler von Schuch, born Ernst Gottfried Schuch ( 23 November 1846, Graz &ndash 10 May 1914, Niederlößnitz/ Radebeul Herod Antipas (short for Antipatros (before 20 BC &ndash after AD 39) was a first century AD ruler of Galilee and Perea, who bore the title Kingdom of Judea redirects here For the 10th-6th century BCE kingdom see Kingdom of Judah Iudaea ( Hebrew: יהודה Standard Perea ("the country beyond" a portion of the kingdom of Herod the Great occupying the eastern side of the Jordan River valley from about one third the The tenor is the highest male voice within the Modal register, just above the Baritone voice Herodias (c 15 BC-after 39 AD was a Jewish princess of the Herodian Dynasty. This article is related to a series of articles under the main article Voice type. This article is related to a series of articles under the main article Voice type. Saint John the Baptist ( heb. Jochanan ben Sacharja, arab. يحيى Yaḥyā or يوحنا Yūḥanna, aram. This article is related to a series of articles under the main article Voice type. Alto is a musical term derived from the Latin word altus, meaning "high" that has several possible interpretations In the strings there are 16 first and 16 second violins, 10-12 violas, 10 violoncellos and 8 double basses. The violin is a bowed String instrument with four strings usually tuned in Perfect fifths It is the smallest and highest-pitched member The viola is a bowed String instrument. It is the middle voice of the Violin family, The violoncello (abbreviated to cello, or 'cello, plural cellos or celli —the c is tʃ The double bass is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed String instrument used in the modern symphony orchestra. The woodwinds include 3 flutes, 1 piccolo, 2 oboes, 1 cor anglais, 1 Heckelphone, 1 Eb clarinet, 2 Bb clarinets, 2 A clarinets, 1 bass clarinet, 3 bassoons and a contrabassoon. The flute is a Musical instrument of the Woodwind family Unlike other woodwind instruments a flute is a Reedless wind instrument that produces its The piccolo is a small Flute. Like the flute the piccolo is normally pitched in the key of C one octave above the concert flute (making it effectively a sopranino "Hautbois" redirects here for the strawberry variety see Hautbois strawberry. The cor anglais, or English horn, is a Double reed Woodwind Musical instrument in the Oboe family The Heckelphone Heckelphon is a musical instrument invented by Wilhelm Heckel and his sons introduced in 1904 The clarinet is a Musical instrument in the Woodwind family The name derives from adding the suffix -et meaning little to the Italian word The bass clarinet is a Musical instrument of the Clarinet family The bassoon is a Woodwind instrument in the Double reed family that typically plays music written in the bass and Tenor registers and occasionally The contrabassoon is a larger version of the Bassoon sounding an octave lower The brass section contains 6 horns, 4 trumpets, 4 Trombones, and 1 Tuba. The trombone is a Musical instrument in the brass family Like all brass instruments it is a lip-reed Aerophone: sound is produced when the player’s Mediatubaogg -->The tuba is the largest and lowest pitched Brass instrument. The exceptionally large percussion section (requiring 8-9 players) contains 4 large kettledrums, a small kettledrum, a triangle, a pair of cymbals, a side drum, a tamtam, a bass drum, a tambourine, a xylophone, castanets and a carillon or glockenspiel. Timpani (also known colloquially as kettledrums or kettle drums) are Musical instruments in the percussion family Timpani (also known colloquially as kettledrums or kettle drums) are Musical instruments in the percussion family The triangle is an Idiophone type of Musical instrument in the percussion family Cymbals are a modern percussion instrument Cymbals consist of thin normally round plates of various Cymbal alloys; see Cymbal making for a discussion of their The snare drum is a Drum with strands of snares made of curled metal wire metal cable plastic cable or gut cords stretched across the a drumhead typically This article is about the Internet Protocol Television channel A bass drum is a large Drum that produces a note of low definite or indefinite pitch. The tambourine or Marine is a Musical instrument of the percussion family consisting of a frame often of wood or plastic with pairs of small metal jingles The xylophone (from the Greek words ξύλον - xylon, "wood" + φωνή - phone, "voice" meaning "wooden Castanets are Percussion instrument ( Idiophone) much used in Moorish, Ottoman, Ancient Roman, Italian, Spanish A carillon (/kaʁijɔ̃/ /ˈkærɪljɒn/ or /kəˈrɪljən/ is a Musical instrument consisting of at least 23 cast bronze cup-shaped bells which are played The glockenspiel ( German, "set of bells quot or "play-bells" also known as orchestra bells and in its portable The orchestra is completed with 2 harps, a celesta, a harmonium and organ (the last two offstage). The harp is a Stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicular to the soundboard. The celesta (pronounced /səˈlɛstə/ or celeste (pronounced /səˈlɛst/ is a struck Idiophone operated by a keyboard. A harmonium is a free-standing musical keyboard instrument similar to a Reed Organ or Pipe Organ The organ (from Greek όργανον – organon "organ instrument tool" is a Keyboard instrument of one or more divisions each

Synopsis

Olive Fremstad holding the head of John the Baptist in the Metropolitan Opera's 1907 production of Salome by Richard Strauss

Time: A moonlit night early in the First Century AD. WikipediaWikiProject_Opera#Infoboxes --> Olive Fremstad ( 14 March, 1871 - 21 April, 1951) was The Metropolitan Opera Association of New York City, founded in April 1880 is a major presenter of all types of opera including Grand Opera. Richard Georg Strauss (11 June 1864 &ndash 8 September 1949 was a German Composer of the late Romantic era and early modern era particularly noted

Place: A great terrace off of Herod's palace at Tiberias on Lake Galilee, Judea; Herod's birthday party is in progress. Tiberias ( British English: /taɪˈbɪəriæs -əs/ American English: /taɪˈbɪriəs/ טְבֶרְיָה Tverya; طبرية Ṭabariyyah The Sea of Galilee, also Sea of Genneseret, Lake Kinneret or Lake Tiberias (Hebrew ים כנרת) (Arabic بحيرة طبريا) Judea or Judæa ( Hebrew: יהודה Standard Yəhuda Tiberian Yəhûḏāh, "praised

Narraboth gazes from the terrace into the banquet hall at the beautiful Princess Salome; he is in love with her, and apostrophizes her, much to the disgustful fearfulness of the Page of Herodias. The voice of the Prophet Jochanaan is heard from his prison in the palace cistern; Herod fears him.

Tired of the feast and its guests, Salome flees to the terrace. When she hears Jochanaan cursing her mother (Herodias), Salome's curiosity is piqued. The palace guards will not honor her petulant orders to fetch Jochanaan for her, so she teasingly works on Narraboth to bring Jochanaan before her. Despite the orders he has received from Herod, Narraboth finally gives in after she promises to do some things for him.

When she sees Jochanaan, Salome is filled with an overwhelming desire to touch him, but he rejects her. She begs for a kiss, and Narraboth, who cannot bear to hear this, kills himself. As Jochanaan is returned to the well, he preaches salvation through the Messiah.

Herod enters, followed by his wife and court. He slips in Narraboth's blood and starts hallucinating. He hears the beating of wings. Despite Herodias' objections, Herod stares lustfully at Salome, who rejects him. Jochanaan harasses Herodias from the well, calling her incestuous marriage to Herod sinful. She demands that Herod silence him. Herod refuses, and she mocks his fear. Five Jews argue concerning the nature of God. Two Nazarenes tell of Christ's miracles; at one point they bring up the raising of Lazarus from the dead, which Herod finds frightening.

Herod asks for Salome to eat with him, drink with him; indolently, she twice refuses, saying she is not hungry or thirsty. Herod then begs Salome to dance for him, Tanz für mich, Salome, though her mother objects. He promises to reward her with her heart's desire — even if it were one-half of his kingdom.

After Salome inquires into his promise, and he swears to honor it, she prepares for the Dance of the Seven Veils. In several notable works of Western culture the Dance of the Seven Veils (usually described as danced by Salomé) is one of the elaborations on the biblical This dance, very oriental in orchestration, has her slowly removing her seven veils, until she lies naked at his feet. Salome then demands the head of the prophet on a silver platter. Her mother cackles in pleasure. Herod tries to dissuade her with offers of jewels, rare birds, and the sacred veil of the Temple. Salome remains firm in her demand for Jochanaan's head, forcing Herod to concede to her demands. After an orchestral interlude, the head of the prophet is brought up out of the well and presented to Salome as she requested.

In one of the most voluptuously gorgeous musical love scenes ever written, Salome makes love to the severed head, finally kissing the prophet's lips passionately. Disgusted, the terrified and superstitious Herod then orders his soldiers to kill Salome.

The role of Salome

The vocal demands of Salome are the same as those of an Isolde, Brünnhilde or Turandot in that, ideally, the role requires the volume, stamina and power of a true dramatic soprano. Iseult (alternatively Isolde, Yseult, Isode, Isoude, Isotta) is the name of several characters in the Arthurian story of Brynhildr is a Shieldmaiden and a Valkyrie in Norse mythology, where she appears as a main character in the Völsunga saga and some Turandot is an Opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, set to a Libretto in Italian by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni The common theme of these four roles is the difficulty in casting an ideal soprano that has a truly dramatic voice as well as being able to look and behave like a teenager (the general age of Salome and the aforementioned three characters).

In addition to the vocal and physical demands, the role also calls for the agility and gracefulness of a prima donna ballerina when performing the opera's famous "Dance of the Seven Veils". Finding one individual with all of these qualities is extremely daunting. Nevertheless, Maria Cebotari, Ljuba Welitsch, Birgit Nilsson, Leonie Rysanek, Montserrat Caballé, Anja Silja, Phyllis Curtin, Karan Armstrong, Teresa Stratas (on film), Cheryl Studer (on record), Dame Gwyneth Jones, Catherine Malfitano, Maria Ewing and Karita Mattila are among the most memorable who have tackled the role in the last half-century. Maria Cebotari ( 10 february 1910, Chişinău - 9 June, 1949, Vienna) was a Bessarabian born Austrian soprano WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> Ljuba Welitsch (Bulgarian Люба Величкова (born Borissovo, Bulgaria Birgit Nilsson ( May 17, 1918 &ndash December 25, 2005) was a Swedish Dramatic soprano who specialized in operatic Leopoldine "Leonie" Rysanek ( November 14, 1926 &ndash March 7, 1998) was an Maria de Montserrat Viviana Concepció Caballé i Folc, better known as Montserrat Caballé (born April 12 1933) is a Spanish Catalan Anja Silja, born April 17, 1940, in Berlin, is a German Soprano who is known for her great abilities Phyllis Curtin (née Smith on December 3, 1921) is an American soprano This article is about the opera singer For the author please see Karen Armstrong. Teresa Stratas OC (born May 26 1938 Toronto Ontario) is a Canadian Soprano opera singer Cheryl Studer (born October 24, 1955) is a Grammy Award winning American Dramatic soprano who has sung at many of the world's major Dame Gwyneth Jones DBE (born November 7, 1936 in Pontnewynydd, Wales) is a Welsh Soprano. Catherine Malfitano (born 18 April 1948) is an American Operatic Maria Ewing Lady Hall (born March 27 1950 in Detroit, Michigan) is an Opera singer who has sung both Soprano and Mezzo soprano Karita Mattila (pronounced KAH-ree-tah MAHT-ee-lah is a leading opera Soprano. Each of these singers has brought her own spin to the title character.

Perhaps the most famous recording of the opera is Georg Solti's Decca recording with Birgit Nilsson giving an awesomely dramatic performance in the title role. WikipediaWikiProject Classical music#Biographical_infoboxes --> Sir Georg Solti, KBE ( 21 October 1912 Birgit Nilsson ( May 17, 1918 &ndash December 25, 2005) was a Swedish Dramatic soprano who specialized in operatic Due to the complexity of the role's demands, some of its performers have had a purely vocal focus by opting to leave the dancing to stand-ins who are professional dancers. Others have opted to combine the two and perform the dance themselves. In either case, at the end of the "Dance of the Seven Veils", some sopranos (or their stand-ins) wear a body stocking under the veils, while others (notably Malfitano and Ewing) have opted not to wear one. Catherine Malfitano (born 18 April 1948) is an American Operatic Maria Ewing Lady Hall (born March 27 1950 in Detroit, Michigan) is an Opera singer who has sung both Soprano and Mezzo soprano

As for the required vocal-range of the title role, it is an extraordinary case: The highest note is the high B, not irregular for a soprano or mezzo-soprano to sing, while the lowest note is a low G-flat, in the alto-range and officially below the standard range for a mezzo-soprano. Considering this range, which is similar to many mezzo roles such as "Carmen" and "Amneris", one might assume that a high soprano is not essential to the piece, but it is; most of the relatively low sopranos who attempted this role found themselves straining their voices throughout the opera, and having reached the closing scene (the most important part of the opera for the title role) were very fatigued. This role is the classic example of the difference between tessitura and absolute range: While mezzos can perform a high note (like "Carmen"), or even temporarily sustain a high tessitura, it is impossible for a singer to spend such a long time (with the needed strength and breath-control) in the second octave above the middle C unless she is a high soprano. Moreover, the low G-flat occurs twice in the opera, and in both cases it is in pp, more of a theatrical effect than music and can be growled instead of sung. The other low notes required are no lower than low A-natural, and they are also quiet.

Controversy

The combination of the biblical theme, the erotic and the murderous which so attracted Wilde to the tale shocked opera audiences from its first appearance. Etymology According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the word bible is from Latin biblia, traced from the same word through Medieval Latin and Late Latin Murder is the unlawful killing of another human person with Malice aforethought, as defined in Common Law countries The original performers were very reluctant to handle the material as written, it was banned in London by the Lord Chamberlain's office until 1907, and Gustav Mahler could not gain the consent of the Vienna censor to have it performed (it was eventually premiered in 1918). London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. The Lord Chamberlain or Lord Chamberlain of the Household is one of the chief officers of the Royal Household in the United Kingdom, and is to be distinguished Vienna ( in Wien; see also other names) is the Capital of Austria, and is also one of the nine States of Austria. When it did premiere in London under Thomas Beecham, it was modified, much to Beecham's annoyance and later amusement. Sir Thomas Beecham 2nd Baronet, CH (29 April 1879 &ndash 8 March 1961 was a British conductor and Impresario. In New York, the premiere was suppressed by wealthy patrons, who entreated the visiting Edward Elgar to lead the objections to the work. New York ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous Elgar refused point-blank, stating that Strauss was "the greatest genius of the age". ^[1]

See also

• Succès de scandale

Sources

Norman Del Mar (1962). Succès de scandale is French for " success by scandal " i Norman Del Mar CBE ( 31 July 1919 &ndash 6 February 1994) was a British conductor and Biographer. Richard Strauss. London: Barrie & Jenkins. ISBN 0-214-15735-0.

External links

• Salomé in Low Land A ten minute animated version in videogame style starring Birgit Nilsson (a modern pixel opera)