Salome

The German composer Richard Strauss based Salome, one of his most celebrated operas, on Oscar Wilde’s eponymous tragedy. The first to portray the title role in the play was the famed French actress Sarah Bernhardt (her company gave four performances at the National Theatre in Prague), whose art also contributed to the popularity of other dramas  (Tosca and Madame Sans-Gêne), subsequently adapted as operas.

The Biblical story of Salome, Princess of Judaea, who so lusts after the imprisoned Prophet Jochanaan (John the Baptist) that she perversely requires to have his head brought on a silver platter in return for dancing for the Tetrarch Herodes, served as the basis for a gripping play charged with emotion and sensuality, rendering an exotic atmosphere. Strauss further amplified the effect of Wilde’s tragedy with his music, giving rise to a work that even 120 years since its premiere has lost none of its provocativeness, drama or expressivity – qualities that make it one of the most captivating operas of all time.

From the very beginning, the performance history of Salome has been synonymous with Czech singers: Karel Burian, Bedřich Plaške, Maria Jeritza, and Emmy Destinn, all of whom appeared in its earliest productions, in Europe and the USA alike. The National Theatre in Prague first presented Strauss’s masterpiece in 1923.

Our new production has been undertaken by Calixto Bieito, who has been a regular guest in Prague in recent years, provoking and thrilling audiences with his accounts of the operas Katya Kabanova, Jenůfa, Idomeneo, and others. The music will be prepared by the conductor Robert Jindra, Music Director of the National Theatre Opera, who will bring to bear his ample experience with our company, as well as a number of other prominent European opera houses.