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Washington Post

At the Met, an unsettling new vision of ‘Salome' unfolds like a dream

Describing the new Metropolitan Opera production of 'Salome' feels a bit like recounting the details of a dream — the lines start to blur, the colors begin to drain, the details dissolve in the telling. This, it seems, is by design. German director Claus Guth made his Met debut on Tuesday with a gripping vision of Richard Strauss's 1905 thriller that expands beyond the bounds of its single act into a surreal study of one of opera's most unhinged antiheroines. Strauss's built his 'Salome' upon a libretto by Hedwig Lachmann, itself a German translation of Oscar Wilde's scandalous 1893 play of the same name, which first plumbed the dark psychological potential of the biblical tale — like the lecherous gaze of Salome's stepfather King Herod, the erotic power of her 'Dance of the Seven Veils,' or her own lurid fascination with the body of the imprisoned Jochanaan (most notably his head). Guth's version feels fully situated in these subconscious levels. The setting is shifted from the first century A.D. to the waning years of the Victorian era — at times the monochromatic palace designed by Etienne Pluss (also making his Met debut) could be a model of Wilde's own dark imagination. This is especially so when the entire palace elevates to reveal a spindly staircase to the cavernous cistern below, where Jochanaan wastes away in chains. Guth's black-and-white treatment might suggest a minimalist approach, but the creative team maximizes possibilities without excess conceptual clutter. This includes Ursula Kudrna's costumes — like the animal masked revelers engaged in a pursuit out of 'Eyes Wide Shut'; Olaf Freese's lighting design, which destabilized the set with its shifting shadows; and Roland Horvath's projections, which conjured a sinister fizz of white dust rising from the palace floor — an insistent reminder of the cruelty below. But above the crisp conceptualization and clean execution of Guth's vision, 'Salome' soars thanks to a stellar cast of singers. Soprano Elza van den Heever debuted her Salome in Lydia Steier's 2022 production for Paris Opera, and her grip on the character was tight enough to leave marks. She brought the perfect balance of winsome innocence and iridescent rage to her performance, which highlighted the heat and heft of her instrument, but also her keen dramatic sensibilities. In addition to van den Heever, there are six other Salomes — ghostly iterations of the princess as she matures. They hang around the palace, lurk around the dungeon, and, one by one, perform a 'Dance of the Seven Veils' that sheds garish light on her unstable state. Baritone Peter Mattei, who recently sung Starbuck in the Met's 'Moby Dick,' was a magnificent Jochanaan. He was powerful enough bellowing from the offstage depths of the cistern, but was most moving in the flesh — his big voice in defiance of the pale, gaunt body coiled in the corner. Tenor Gerhard Siegel offered a dynamic and devilish Herod, his voice well-suited to the king's swings between power and impotence — especially as he tries to win his stepdaughter's affections ('Salome komm trink Wein mit mir'). Mezzo-soprano Michelle DeYoung brought sharp intensity to her crimson-gowned Herodias. And tenor Piotr Buszewski sung a sympathetic Narraboth, whose departure in Guth's telling is a bit less self-imposed. The night's other big star was Met music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin, who ably steered the nonstop ride through Strauss's whirlwind score, including its cache of sound effects (like the rising winds in the strings, or those ugly pinched notes on double bass that anticipate Jochanaan's beheading). And he ensured that Strauss's orchestral palette burst with all of the colors forgone onstage by Guth — the music bristles with xylophone, harmonium, castanets and a lowing heckelphone (an oboe of sorts first deployed in 'Salome'). While Guth's 'Salome' is pulled between extremes — the unrelenting black of the palace and the chalk-white walls of the prison, for instance — the magic of this production is the way it illuminates the gray area in between, the unresolved traumas and unanswered questions. Guth sheds just enough light on the opera for us to see it anew, but smartly, not enough to wake us from the dream. 'Salome' runs at the Metropolitan Opera through May 24,