Salome The Opera

Eleanor Corrigan

Professor Roundtree

Art and Technology

12 February 2018

Salome

            The story begins around 30 AD, in a beautiful palace located in Jerusalem. The castle belongs to King Herod, who is married to Herodias. Herodias has a beautiful daughter Salome, which is technically King Herod’s niece. However, King Herod killed his brother in order to marry Herodias and become Salome’s step-father.  In the beginning of the opera, King Herod is having a banquet, which Salome seems to be bored with. The voice of Jochanaan is heard, a prisoner whose voice seems to be coming from underground. He curses Salome’s mother for living a “sinful” life, which Salome questions. The soldiers refuse to answer her continued questions until Narraboth, a guard fascinated with her, orders Jochanaan to be seen.

            This is where it all gets interesting. When Jochanaan emerges from underground Salome is terrified. However, her fear quickly turns into fascination and starts wanting more and more of the man’s attention. She begs for him to touch her hair, lips and skin but Jochanaan refuses the commands. Narraboth, who watches these interactions cant bear to see Salome interested in another man and stabs himself. The worst part is, Salome is so focused on the holy man that she doesn’t even notice! She continues to beg for Jochanaan to kiss her. He tells her to “save herself for Christ” and goes back into his underground home.

            King Herod appears outside where Salome is. He comments on the moon, which is full. He slips in Narraboth’s blood and starts to freak out. He starts to hallucinate, which his wife dismisses. Herod continues to talk to Salome. The opera makes it seem as though the king has always taken advances towards his step-daughter, to which Salome is disgusted by and this time is no different. She refuses his wine and food. At this point Jochanaan begins his angry speech about the queen, and his wife demands Herod turn a prophet over to the Jews. The king refuses and the argument is blown up within the Jewish community against God and Jesus. Herodias demands he stop talking so negative about her.

            In a weird change of pace, the king asks Salome to dance for him. As she continues to refuse him, he promises her anything she wants in the whole world. This amuses Salome and even against her mother’s wishes, she agrees and starts to dance seductively. The creepy King is so overjoyed while watching his step-daughter take her clothes off. And what was Salome’s request? She asks for Jochanaan’s head on a silver platter. The king refuses, while the queen is overjoyed by her daughter’s cunning request. Salome insists this is what their deal was, and after offering numerous other rewards, the king gives in. A guard goes into the ground to do the deed and Salome can hardly wait for her prize. When the head is given to the princess, she kisses him passionately as if he were alive and well. To end the opera, the horrified king who is beyond disgusted with his daughter, orders servants to kill her.

            My initial reaction to this opera was pure and utter confusion.  I was unaware it was sung in German, and after debating whether I was going crazy or it was a different language, I paused the video and researched prior to watching the rest. Richard Strauss, the opera’s director seemed to be an extremely active composer within the entertainment industry. The first performance of “Salome” created a big sensation, shot putting the 41-year-old into stardom. I picture audiences favorite scene being Salome’s dance. The actress intensely dances for over ten minutes while singing extremely long notes. By the end of the scene she is nude and probably exhausted.

            Salome is often thought to be the most shocking opera ever, pushing the boundaries of entertainment, leading the way for future Operas to play on society and its moral compass. The biggest public alarm was the depiction of a teenage girl and the sexuality that surrounded her. Also, among other famous operas, “Salome” is known by music lovers as extremely above par. The mise-en-scene was extremely dark. The scenes tend to be bloody when the killings occur, such as the holy man’s blood being all over the white table cloth. Also, the scenes generally have no backdrop, but instead go for an all-black background with a few props, playing on the dark feel of the opera. The music is generally fast paced to go along with the anger portrayed in numerous scenes. Technology is used throughout the play, everything from the lightening, which creates a dark anxious ambiance at certain parts, to the character of Jochanaan. At certain parts, voice overs make him sound as if he were truly underground. Also, advanced technology had to be taken advantage of to make his severed head look realistic.

            If “Salome” was turned into a video game, it would be a big hit. To start with, the player would choose the character they would want to play. Then, based on your knowledge of the opera you would be faced with different options of how to act and using controls you would have to chose the correct actions to gain points to eventually win the game. For instance, if you chose to be Salome, when the king made advances towards you, you could either A) feed into his ego and give him what he wants sexually or B) run away or C) throw food in his face. Since he is the king, and in charge of your well-being, throwing food would not be the best answer, so a player would have to think hard about what’s best for their character.  If you chose to be Jochanaan, you would want to avoid Salome, so when she begs for his kiss you would chose the option to ignore the request. To make it interesting, once a guard is ordered to kill Jochanaan, if you are his character, you can try to run away from the execution. Along the same lines, if you are Salome and you advance to the end of the play, you could try to avoid execution as well. In the end, the video game tests your knowledge on the opera and its main characters, while at the same time playing on the fun of suspense and live-action.

            In the end, I enjoyed watching and analyzing “Salome”. After getting past the language barrier, it was interesting to see an opera that was so iconic in history. I was unsure what an opera even was, so I feel as though a whole new world of entertainment and art has been opened up to me. I am left with a few questions. One, why would you want someone’s head as a prize and why would you proceed to kiss it? And finally, two, does Salome end up dying? It is interesting to me how even in 1905, directors knew the power of the cliff hanger. I recommend “Salome” to anyone interested in exploring opera further.