MusicWeb International One of the most grown-up review sites around 2024
60,000 reviews
... and still writing ...

Search MusicWeb Here Acte Prealable Polish CDs
 

Presto Music CD retailer
 
Founder: Len Mullenger                                    Editor in Chief:John Quinn             


Some items
to consider

new MWI
Current reviews

old MWI
pre-2023 reviews

paid for
advertisements

Acte Prealable Polish recordings

Forgotten Recordings
Forgotten Recordings
All Forgotten Records Reviews

TROUBADISC
Troubadisc Weinberg- TROCD01450

All Troubadisc reviews


FOGHORN Classics

Alexandra-Quartet
Brahms String Quartets

All Foghorn Reviews


All HDTT reviews


Songs to Harp from
the Old and New World


all Nimbus reviews



all tudor reviews


Follow us on Twitter


Editorial Board
MusicWeb International
Founding Editor
   
Rob Barnett
Editor in Chief
John Quinn
Contributing Editor
Ralph Moore
Webmaster
   David Barker
Postmaster
Jonathan Woolf
MusicWeb Founder
   Len Mullenger


DVD REVIEW


Advertising on
Musicweb


Donate and keep us afloat

 

New Releases

Naxos Classical
All Naxos reviews

Chandos recordings
All Chandos reviews

Hyperion recordings
All Hyperion reviews

Foghorn recordings
All Foghorn reviews

Troubadisc recordings
All Troubadisc reviews



all Bridge reviews


all cpo reviews

Divine Art recordings
Click to see New Releases
Get 10% off using code musicweb10
All Divine Art reviews


All Eloquence reviews

Lyrita recordings
All Lyrita Reviews

 

Wyastone New Releases
Obtain 10% discount

Subscribe to our free weekly review listing

 

 

alternatively
CD: AmazonUK


Richard STRAUSS (1864-1949)
Salome (1905) [104:00]
Maria Ewing (soprano) - Salome
Kenneth Riegel (tenor) - Herod
Gillian Knight (mezzo) - Herodias
Robin Leggate (tenor) - Narraboth
Michael Devlin (baritone) - Jokanaan
Orchestra of the Royal Opera House/Edward Downes
rec. live, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, June 1992
Director: Sir Peter Hall
Region Code: 0; Aspect Ratio: 4:3; LPCM Stereo
OPUS ARTE OA R3108 D [104:00]
Experience Classicsonline

The DVD case warns that this film 'contains scenes of nudity and violence', as well it may, for this is the infamous Peter Hall production of Salome where Maria Ewing bares all at the climax of her Dance of the Seven Veils. This undoubtedly gives the DVD a unique selling point, but in truth there are many far better reasons to acquire this film as it's one of the most successful Salomes I've seen.

The production values are as resolutely traditional as you could imagine in this opera. The sets and costumes place us firmly in first century Palestine and the stage directions are absolutely faithful to Wilde/Lachmann's instructions: Salome really does discard seven veils during her dance, Jokanaan's head really is delivered by 'a huge black arm rising from the cistern,' and at the end Salome is crushed beneath the soldiers' shields. That said, this is Biblical Judaea clearly seen through the eyes of the fin-de-siècle: there are suggestions of Klimt in the curtain that leads to the banqueting Hall and Jokanaan's pale body and raven hair is clearly influenced by the pictures of Aubrey Beardsley. There is, however, no 'concept' to distract from the power of the story and in fact this renders the action even more immediate as it brings one closer to the action as Wilde and Strauss imagined it and this lends it undeniable power.

On top of this 'safe' production style come performances of uncompromising power, not lease the astonishing central portrayal by Maria Ewing. I have never seen as rounded a portrayal of Salome as hers: she seems to get thoroughly inside the character's depraved psychology and reveals every shocking aspect to the audience. From the moment she steps onto the stage she is utterly magnetic: she looks girlish but her eyes and body reveal a cunning and worldly knowledge that drives her from Herod's banquet to her obsession with Jokanaan. Her gestures and control of the shape of her body show that she exploits her sexual power right from the off: poor Narraboth, played with ardent passion by Robin Leggate, never stands a chance and his suicide is, for once, one of the most moving moments in the piece. Vocally speaking Ewing is every bit as strong. She reaches every note in the character's huge range and has plenty of power left for the depraved eulogy of the final scene. Furthermore she is a powerful vocal actress: plenty of vocal touches enrich her understanding of the character, such as her slurred phrases when she describes Jokanaan's body, suggesting her distracted obsession, or the flirtatious way that she reminds Herod of the seriousness of his oath. In short, she understands and brings to fruition much more of the character than Nadja Michaels (Opus Arte and TDK) or Catherine Malfitano (Decca) and her portrayal is as close to perfect as I've come across.

The other roles are just as well done. Kenneth Riegel's Herod is a depraved lunatic, lunging across the stage for his moments of madness and enslaved by his passion for his stepdaughter. Importantly, he never barks or gives in to the temptation to shout: his portrayal is thoroughly musical and is all the more powerful for that. He even manages to evoke some sympathy during the section when he begs Salome to reconsider. Next to him Gillian Knight is a thoroughly malicious Herodias, but her commanding vocal presence and imperious singing remind us that this is indeed a woman of royal blood. Michael Devlin's Jokanaan sounds rich and authoritative and at times a little gruff, but this is entirely in keeping with the fact that his character has spent weeks living in the cistern. Impressively he does the whole opera in nothing more than a loin cloth and a tremendous wig, making him all the more convincing a part of Hall's specific vision of the piece. The guards and Jews are very well sung, and the small role of Herodias' page is taken very movingly by Fiona Kimm. The late, lamented Edward Downes conducts a powerhouse reading from the pit and the Covent Garden Orchestra surpass themselves in their playing. The only complaint is that the PCM Stereo sounds is rather boxy, leading to some inevitable loss in orchestral detail, a shame in this most finely observed of Strauss's scores.

Three cheers for this Salome, then. It may not have the big ideas of McVicar's recent staging but if you're looking for a traditional production that is excellently sung then, on DVD at least, this could well be your first choice.

Simon Thompson
 
 


EXPLORE MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL

Making a Donation to MusicWeb

Writing CD reviews for MWI

About MWI
Who we are, where we have come from and how we do it.

Site Map

How to find a review

How to find articles on MusicWeb
Listed in date order

Review Indexes
   By Label
      Select a label and all reviews are listed in Catalogue order
   By Masterwork
            Links from composer names (eg Sibelius) are to resource pages with links to the review indexes for the individual works as well as other resources.

Themed Review pages

Jazz reviews

 

Discographies
   Composer
      Composer surveys
   National
      Unique to MusicWeb -
a comprehensive listing of all LP and CD recordings of given works
.
Prepared by Michael Herman

The Collector’s Guide to Gramophone Company Record Labels 1898 - 1925
Howard Friedman

Book Reviews

Complete Books
We have a number of out of print complete books on-line

Interviews
With Composers, Conductors, Singers, Instumentalists and others
Includes those on the Seen and Heard site

Nostalgia

Nostalgia CD reviews

Records Of The Year
Each reviewer is given the opportunity to select the best of the releases

Monthly Best Buys
Recordings of the Month and Bargains of the Month

Comment
Arthur Butterworth Writes

An occasional column

Phil Scowcroft's Garlands
British Light Music articles

Classical blogs
A listing of Classical Music Blogs external to MusicWeb International

Reviewers Logs
What they have been listening to for pleasure

Announcements

 

Community
Bulletin Board

Give your opinions or seek answers

Reviewers
Past and present

Helpers invited!

Resources
How Did I Miss That?

Currently suspended but there are a lot there with sound clips


Composer Resources

British Composers

British Light Music Composers

Other composers

Film Music (Archive)
Film Music on the Web (Closed in December 2006)

Programme Notes
For concert organizers

External sites
British Music Society
The BBC Proms
Orchestra Sites
Recording Companies & Retailers
Online Music
Agents & Marketing
Publishers
Other links
Newsgroups
Web News sites etc

PotPourri
A pot-pourri of articles

MW Listening Room
MW Office

Advice to Windows Vista users  
Questionnaire    
Site History  
What they say about us
What we say about us!
Where to get help on the Internet
CD orders By Special Request
Graphics archive
Currency Converter
Dictionary
Magazines
Newsfeed  
Web Ring
Translation Service

Rules for potential reviewers :-)
Do Not Go Here!
April Fools




Return to Review Index

Untitled Document


Reviews from previous months
Join the mailing list and receive a hyperlinked weekly update on the discs reviewed. details
We welcome feedback on our reviews. Please use the Bulletin Board
Please paste in the first line of your comments the URL of the review to which you refer.