CONSIDERED OPINION OF OPERA CLEVELAND'S SALOME, 4/21/07

Richard Strauss: Salome. (Lise Lindstrom, Salome; Stephen Powell, Jokanaan; Timothy Mussard, Herod; Luretta Bybee, Herodias; Paul Nadler, cond.)

It was Reverend William Archibald Spooner—yes, he of the Spoonerism—who is said to have tested Oscar Wilde's proficiency in Greek by handing Wilde a copy of the Passion account of St. Matthew to translate aloud. When Wilde had zipped through a few sentences with ease, Spooner told him to stop. That would be sufficient. But Wilde asked if he might not continue. He wanted, he said, to find out how the story ended.

A decade and a half later, the Lord Chamberlain’s office halted the premiere of Wilde’s New Testament play Salome. That everyone knew what happened to John the Baptist was no excuse. When Richard Strauss’ operatic adaptation of Salome arrived at the Metropolitan Opera in 1907, it met a similar fate. All the performances after the first were cancelled thanks to the influence of J.P. Morgan, whose daughter had been shocked by what she saw in the final dress rehearsal.

But how do you reclaim the work for an age in which a severed head might figure in any evening’s episode of CSI? One way is to shift the arc of the story, so that the person who contrives the decapitation is the most level-headed character in the opera. So it is in director Jeannette Aster’s Salome, the excellent debut production by Opera Cleveland.

Lise Lindstrom’s Salome is a young girl surrounded by caricatures. In fact, until you grasp how she and they counterbalance one another, it seems as if the director might have gone too far. Timothy Mussard’s Herod doesn’t have a shred of dignity. He’s a version of the Comic Book Guy from The Simpsons who has long given up deciding his own destiny. Somebody’s dressed him up as the Ghost of Christmas Present and thrust him into a political office he’s ill-equipped to hold, and now he’s lost in the sybaritic lifestyle that comes with it. His relationship with Luretta Bybee’s formidably matriarchal Herodias has just the right unsavory flavor about it. Meanwhile, the pronouncements of Jokanaan—voiced by the powerful baritone of Stephen Powell—sound quite authoritative. But the prophet’s heavy makeup and overwrought demeanor suggest that he’s every bit as unglued as his captors. Indeed, there are moments in this staging, with the prophet leashed to a soldier’s rope, that flirt surprisingly boldly with slapstick.

But Salome? One of the first things you notice about her is the subdued costume, its Greek elegance contrasting with the forms of ostentation practiced by her parents, on the one hand, and Jokanaan, on the other. Then there’s the way Lise Lindstrom moves about the stage, alternating flat-footed awkwardness with self-consciously classical poses, as if she’s on the cutting edge between the gawky girl and the cultivated young woman. You never get the sense that she’s insane, nor that she’s obsessed, nor that she’s especially oversexed. Her Dance of the Seven Veils—a frustrated attempt at communicating in her parents’ lurid language—is all about character rather than libido.

And so it is that last century’s shocker becomes this century’s coming-of-age story. It’s an auspicious beginning for Opera Cleveland: well-sung, crisply performed by a downsized orchestra under the baton of Paul Nadler, and, above all, a reminder of the rich interpretive possibilities inherent in a good story—even when you already know the ending.

Jerome Crossley for WCLV 104/9.

Considered Opinions is WCLV's program that reviews performances by Cleveland-area music ensembles. Commentator Jerome Crossley offers an informed and witty perspective on performances by groups that include the Cleveland Orchestra, Opera Cleveland, and Red {an orchestra}. Considered Opinions typically airs at 9.45 a.m., 12.20 p.m., and 5.20 p.m. the Friday following a Cleveland Orchestra concert, and it repeats at 9.45 a.m. on Saturday. Other air-times depend on the schedule of the ensembles reviewed.

Now, you needn't miss a single edition of Considered Opinions. Subscribe to the program as a WCLV podcast, and every installment of this fascinating series will be delivered automatically to your iTunes or other feed aggregator! Or, if you prefer, you can access the texts of older editions of Considered Opinions in the Considered Opinions Archive.