Comparisons
Dohnanyi/Vienna Philharmonic
(Decca)
Karajan/Vienna Philharmonic (EMI)
Reiner/Metropolitan Opera (Walhall)
Schønwandt/Danish National Radio
Symphony Orchestra (Chandos)
Sinopoli/Deutsche Opera Berlin (DG)
Five years ago Opera
North performed Tristan und Isolde
in Nottingham and the star of the
show was obviously Susan Bullock. This
Isolde sang Celtic rings around her
Tristan with a bright, forward tone
of molten steel which cleaved through
the orchestra. If she did not quite
melt into the character the directness
and power of her singing was world class.
Four years later these
qualities have to some extent reversed.
Bullock brings stunning dramatic intensity
to Salome, scaling and warming her voice
to reveal the awakening sexuality of
the teenage girl. Her escalating passionate
volleys attacking John the Baptist’s
siege against her love are almost overwhelming.
She and Mackerras darken much of the
final monologue into a fantastic psychotic
nightmare, basses and tubas becoming
subterranean caverns mirroring Salome’s
disturbed state. Notice how sweet and
small Salome sounds when she requests
something on a silver platter after
her dance. Bullock then digs down into
her chest voice in her insistence that
what she demands is nothing less than
Jokanaan’s severed head. Such malice
is worlds away from Luini’s fifteenth
century painting, chosen for the booklet
cover.
It is sad then to hear
that, as in her disappointing Wesendonck
lieder (Avie), Bullock has developed
a pronounced vibrato under pressure,
notably in the crucial final lines.
The voice no longer opens out securely
as weight is pressed on the vocal chords.
This is also a dramatic flaw as vibrato
implies a mature voice undermining the
successful youthfulness of Bullock’s
acting elsewhere. However Bullock always
holds the centre of the notes and the
vibrato is not off-putting, especially
when compared with Catherine Malfitano’s
unhappy Salome for Dohnanyi (Decca).
You will just need to listen around
it. Luckily Strauss employs orchestral
crescendos sparingly so Bullock’s vocal
flaw in no way rules out the glories
of either her interpretation as a whole
or the rest of the recording.
And what a recording!
Why do people bother with hallucinogenic
drugs with sounds like this? The Philharmonia
and the Chandos engineers have gone
supersonic here, retaining clarity and
bite within a primarily deep, rich-layered
palette, very different from the crystalline
textures of the Vienna Philharmonic
for Dohnanyi. There are so many revelations
that Mackerras’s team etch on the mind:
the battalion of trombones after Jokanaan
curses Salome, the zig-zag strings over
the escalating violence of the timps
and brass as Salome’s unbalanced parents
finally debate what to do with their
"monster" daughter, the degenerate
slip sideways as the orchestra discordantly
crashes after Salome’s final line. Throughout,
Mackerras combines poetry and sweeping
energy, never pulling or pushing the
score. Even Salome’s Dance, which Alma
Mahler recognised as the weakest part
of Strauss’s music, holds a sovereign
symphonic line.
John Wegner’s Jokanaan
deserves special mention. His resonant
cavernous baritone is both youthful
and arresting, well contrasted with
Andrew Rees’ fine lyric tenor. Wegner,
like all others, misses the blackness
and sheer loudness of Hotter’s implacable
Old Testament prophet. Whilst there
is an element of kitsch in both Oscar
Wilde’s original play and Strauss’s
score, John Graham-Hall’s degenerate
Herod only narrowly avoids panto overacting.
Mind you he sounds positively restrained
compared with Horst Hiestermann for
Sinopoli. Sally’s Burgess’s Herodias
is dark, smoky and has real edge. She,
more than Graham-Hall, has the cold
command to evoke real horror.
English cannot replace
the grip of the German text and no collector
should be without outstanding sets by
Sinopoli (DG) and Karajan (EMI). Yet
it is revelatory for non-German speakers
to hear lines take on new life immediately
within the context of the music. Salome’s
expectation as she hovers before the
cistern and Herod’s distracted search
for his wine and ring whilst waiting
for Jokanaan’s execution really stand
out. Overall the cast enunciate clearly
but, to be honest, I sometimes needed
to keep the libretto on hand as singers
shift from the lyric to the big dramatic
voice and words are elongated. Also
Chandos bring voices into sensible focus
whilst avoiding the mistake of their
earlier Salome where the orchestra is
too distant. Here the few occasions
where tuttis almost overshadow the text
are a fair trade-off for orchestral
impact.
There is a real emotional
and sonic surge to Mackerras’s Salome
that tears the listener’s centre of
gravity both up and down, occasionally
at the same time. If you want a spectacular
recording that leaves you battered and
shaken then this is a Salome you must
hear. It is a testament to the Metropolitan
Opera live in 1952 with Fritz Reiner,
Hans Hotter and the incomparable Ljuba
Welitsch that their Salome, despite
much less impressive sound, has even
greater emotional kick.
David Harbin
Philharmonia Orchestra/Charles Mackerras
