OPERA WAS GREAT !! really interesting new take on the herod/john the baptist/salome story. in an odd way one that doesn't feel like it has any reason to be specifically herod and john the baptist and salome thematically (there's no theology here whatsoever) except insofar as the story already exists, both as a biblical legend familiar in the culture in which it was written and premiered and as an oratorio/opera that has existed for a couple centuries by now. very interesting to see a take on this story that predates the wilde and strauss versions -- it makes me wonder just how much the wilde and strauss versions have colored modern interpretations/expectations of the story, honestly.
anyway, it was really fucking good. very well performed. cool fresh take. great HIP chamber orchestra complete with theorbo and baroque guitar(!). the translation and text setting were really good too, i love that it lets itself be abstract and literary/poetic in style rather than simply trying to mimic everyday speech the whole way through which usually just turns out clunky and awkward. the whole show ended up being a fantastic tone setter for the month of october because it was creepy and fucked up in really tasty, exciting ways. i'm not a horror movie fan but i think this is what fans of those see in them. listening and learning
i'm hoping inseries will film this one and post it for streaming at some point like they've done with some of their previous works (including circus rigoletto) but in case they don't i'll put some more detailed staging and direction thoughts below the cut:
the way the whole family dynamic is presented in act i it's like. herod doesn't really love herodias but they're going through the motions of being spouses and parents together right. herodias clearly resents him for this. she's also hooking up with his brother who is also here. she seems to at times relish in this and at times feel deeply ashamed about it. (detail i noticed is that herod is wearing a wedding ring but herodias is not.) the brother is goofy but also kind of a bully and there was one section where he was playing with salome and it was hard to see from where i was sitting but it definitely turned kind of ugly, potentially even implying csa/physical abuse (from my viewing angle this blocking was obstructed so i couldn't tell for sure). the who's tommy style. herodias definitely seems to be projecting some amount of her resentment for herod onto salome, kind of at times going between being distant and commanding with her. but salome is also very keenly interested in making both her parents happy and living up to their expectations of her. also herod, herodias, and herod's brother are all smoking. like. constantly. especially herodias and the brother. also the brother snorts coke. welcome to the 1970s the garish wallpaper is peeling and our family is falling the fuck apart.
herod and salome, though, are really tender together. herod is incredibly sweet and gentle and patience with salome, who seems to be a pretty young girl in this staging -- her hair is in long ponytails and she plays with her barbie doll and stares at the tv when her mom tells her to quit bothering her. but herod looks at her with such obvious and overflowing love every time. it's a very rigoletto and gilda dynamic at the beginning, though rigoletto + gilda and herod + salome ultimately both go down very different kinds of devastating paths.
there's this interesting moment when salome is playing with her barbie doll and holds it up by its long hair, and herod sits beside her and plays along, and she gives him the barbie doll to hold by its hair. and she grabs a pair of scissors and starts chopping the barbie doll's hair off. and herod kind of sits there watching/playing along, until herodias notices and immediately rips the doll out of salome's hand (not the scissors ??) (also i think it's not a coincidence that herodias has very short butch hair in this). and shortly later in a moment of uncontrolled rage she rips the barbie's head off the body. and then seconds later realizes what she's done and looks horrified by it (of course, the doll and its head stick around and in act ii it is herodias seeing the doll head that gives her An Idea)
contrasting with all of this is john the baptist who straight up looks like he walked out of brokeback mountain. jeans. blue ranch shirt. white cowboy hat. very small, subtle silver cross necklace. leather boots. and this is baroque so he's a countertenor which definitely adds something
anyway john and herod were definitely former lovers and john shows up mid-birthday party and not only accuses herod's brother and herodias of immorality for the whole "having an affair with your brother's wife" thing but also pretty much outing herod in front of his family. and herod is clearly extremely caught by this. he and his family are enraged at the accusations of immorality and (especially lead by herodias) seize john and lock him up (THEY HAVE A PRISON CELL IN THEIR HOUSE?? LMFAO).
but herod very much still loves john, even if he didn't realize it until now. there's this very tender moment during the sinfonia da capo act ii where herod (in pajamas) leads john through the darkened house back to his cell and before leaving him be they embrace really close for a long while and it's so very sweet and sad. like they both know this is their last moment to be happy together, ever
anyway, act ii. so herod sits down with salome to play with her again while she's watching tv and trying to have a nice father daughter moment together. then the family comes out and gives him his birthday present. from my angle i could see herod look directly at salome and smile mouth "did you pick this out?" about the gifts (a tie and a "world's best dad" mug) like it's so sweet and sad cause man you know what's coming next. and then john cries out from the cell and herodias is enraged and sees the doll head and gets her idea. so when herod tells salome he'll give her anything and she initially says she doesn't want anything, herodias then tells her to ask for john's execution. so basically, herodias is using salome to force herod to choose between the only two people he really loves. and salome, who is established to be living in a manipulative, abusive household and is also keenly interested in living up to her parents' approval and examples (and of course herodias and her brother are terrible examples), does what she's told. and she really sells it. really plays along. she believes in this now.
there was one aria in the entire show that got an applause break outside of the finales of the acts (everything else flowed along attacca), and it was this aria where salome sings of her bitter tears, which herod can dry with tenderness and care if only he'll grant her wish (executing john the baptist). dawna rae warren is really great at shifting between the childlike and playful to simmering with manic glee, rage, despair, and her vocal control is INSANE, the different degrees of dynamics and harshness/sweetness of timbre, it was incredible. very well deserved applause. if you've read any of my other opera reviews you'll probably know that by now i'm not usually the reviewer who spends much time commenting on individual singers' voices so it should say something when i do go on a tangent to talk about one. girl was gooooood
anyway, herod is just like fucking ruined by this. that's his baby girl. he loves her so much. he can't deny her what he promised. but he loves john too, more than anyone except salome. and he's also unfortunately convinced that his relationship with john is the sin that's ruined his family and life and the thing he needs to atone for. the brother (gleefully) does the execution and herodias watches and she's like, disgusted by it but also delighted. licks the knife and then kisses the brother and everything before they leave the stage. and the final duet has herod sitting at the table with john's head presented on top of what's left of his birthday cake while salome dances around. and takes out her mother's cigarette stuck into the side of it and pops it into her mouth (final transformation into her mother perhaps?). and they both end singing together the question of "why?" (in two very different tones) before the opera just, Ends. like the music ended Abruptly. i'm not sure if that was an inseries choice or if that's original but that's a killer, ridiculously-forward-thinking ending for a work of this era if it's the latter
it was dope man. it was so cool. really great little opera.
