Opera
Salome
Perth Concert Hall
Keith Bruce, four stars
THE appearance on a Scottish concert stage of Sir Richard Armstrong, formerly of Scottish Opera, inevitably brought to mind that company’s hugely successful Ring cycle directed by Tim Albery. Richard Strauss’s powerful Salome, from Oscar Wilde’s drama via librettist Hedwig Lachmann, may be a terse hour and three quarters by comparison, but it is hardly less musically powerful and as demanding of the singers and players.
The difference here was that Armstrong and the orchestra were visible to all, not confined to the theatre pit. Opera North’s touring concert production of Strauss’s 1905 masterpiece may not have all the clever contemporary visuals of its own superb recent version of the Wagner, staged in full two years ago as conductor Richard Farnes’s farewell to the company, but it shares some of the same aesthetic in the stage lighting and costuming and performances of the cast.
With only a slither of the apron of the platform and four chairs with which to work, the fifteen singers omitted none of the drama of the action, and the proximity of words and music-making often produced moments of startling clarity. In suggesting that Salome’s dance of the seven veils was happening off-stage as a private experience for Herod, director PJ Harris paralleled it with the opening scene’s reportage of the king’s step-daughter and the incarcerated prophet Jokannen as rivals for the attention of the court.
The vocal performances of all the main characters were top class, but the domestic dynamic between Herodias (Katarina Karneus), Herod (Arnold Bezuyen) and Jennifer Holloway’s commanding Salome was the fearsome heart of the work. That and the superb playing of the orchestra, where it was a real please to be able to watch as well as hear the growl of the contra-bassoon and the glissando fingering on the lower strings.
As Herod’s final murderous command hung in the air and the orchestra was bathed in blood-red light, this exclusive Scottish performance was a real coup for the Perth hall.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here