SALOME

Soprano Elza van den Heever and baritone Peter Mattei headline a new production by Claus Guth in his Met debut

Strauss' shattering masterpiece SALOME about the most notorious femme fatale in opera explores the dark depths of desire, power, and the consequences of unrestrained passion, unleashing a torrent of sensual, intoxicating music as the young princess's twisted obsession with John the Baptist reaches a shocking climax.

Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts his first Met performances of Strauss’s white-hot one-act tragedy, which receives its first new production at the company in 20 years. Claus Guth, one of Europe’s leading opera directors, gives the biblical story – already filtered through the beautiful and strange imagination of Oscar Wilde’s play – a psychologically perceptive Victorian-era setting rich in symbolism and subtle shades of darkness and light. Headlining the new staging is soprano Elza van den Heever as the abused and unhinged heroine, who demands the head of Jochanaan, sung by celebrated baritone Peter Mattei. Tenor Gerhard Siegel is Salome’s lecherous stepfather, King Herod, with mezzo-soprano Michelle DeYoung as his wife, Herodias, and tenor Piotr Buszewski as Narraboth.

"The opening night crowd roared when van den Heever took her bow, and rightly so. Her Salome was every inch a damaged and demanding adolescent, aided by the hint of steel in her otherwise warm, pure tone." (Financial Times)

“SALOME soars thanks to a stellar cast of singers." (Washington Post)