Concert

Strauss' Salome (opera in concert)

2017 Verbier Festival Opening Concert – Charles Dutoit (conductor), Gun-Brit Barkmin (Salome), Jane Henschel (Herodias)... – Verbier Festival Orchestra

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Cast

Gun-Brit Barkmin — Salome

Jane Henschel — Herodias

Egils Silins — Jochanaan

Gerhard Siegel — Herodes

Andrew Staples — Narraboth

Idunnu Münch — Page of Herodias

Paweł Konik — First Nazarene and First Soldier

Julien Van Mellaerts — Second Nazarene and Second Soldier

Rouwen Huther — First Jew

Marcel Reijans — Second Jew

Mark Omvlee — Third Jew

Patrick Vogel — Fourth Jew

Alexander Vassiliev — Fifth Jew

Jasper Leever — A Cappadocian

Satriya Krisna — A Slave

Verbier Festival Orchestra

Charles Dutoit — Conductor

Program notes

For his last season as Music Director of the Verbier Festival Orchestra (VFO), Charles Dutoit opens the 2017 Verbier Festival with a concert version of Richard Strauss' Salomé.

Revisited many times over the course of the centuries, a new interest in the story of the biblical character Salomé flowered in the second half of the 19th century. Numerous writers drew inspiration from her tale, including Charles Baudelaire in his 1857 poetry collection Fleurs du Mal, Gustave Flaubert in his short story Hérodias from his 1877 work Trois Contes, and Oscar Wilde in his 1893 Salomé. It is from Wilde's one-act play in a German translation by Hedwig Lachmann that Strauss drew the libretto for his eponymous opera. Salomé's 1905 premiere at Dresden's Hofoper was a resounding success, with no less than 38 encores! Mahler called it, "one of the most important works of our age." Strauss later created a French version of his opera based on Wilde's original prose with the help of the author and musicologist Romain Rolland, which was premiered in 1907.

Insulted by the prophet Jochanaan's refusal of her kisses, Salomé, an obstinate princess, decides to seek vengeance at all costs. In exchange for his head, she dances for her step-father Herod...

Made possible by the support of the Tabor Foundation.
Photo: Charles Dutoit © Nicolas Brodard

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