OPERA REVIEW: ‘Salome’ equal parts triumph and transgression

By Diana Nollen

CEDAR FALLS - Musically, “Salome” is a crowning achievement for the Cedar Rapids Opera Theatre and Orchestra Iowa.

Stylistically, it just didn't work for me.

The 90-minute opera by Richard Strauss opened Friday at the Gallagher-Bluedorn Performing Arts Center and repeats Sunday, Jan. 17, at 2 p.m.

It's a bloody tale of lust, incest, weakness, revenge and murder, based on the biblical account of John the Baptist's death. I realize society hasn't learned much or changed much in the ensuing years, but the director's choice of placing the ancient action in a modern setting seemed incongruous.

Maybe it's because I know the characters of John the Baptist, Herod and Salome too well to catapult them into 2010, where the royal guards wear desert camouflage and carry tiny machine guns, the women wear cocktail dresses and the ruler wears a cheap American suit.

The scenery was beautiful, with a lavish tent where partygoers gathered to celebrate Herod's birthday and tiny hanging lanterns that glowed against gossamer draping that fluttered in occasional breezes. Those elements worked wonderfully to create a Middle Eastern desert oasis.

Having the royal family recline on cheap lawn chairs did not. And why would any woman wear a full length fur coat in the desert?

Modern actions didn't bode any better, with Salome's mother traipsing around the stage in a drunken stupor wearing one high heel and carrying the other or having a priest so overcome by Salome's bewitching dance that he swooned in a fetish over her shoes.

And replacing Salome's signature dance of the seven veils with a dance of the burqa and negligee were just such odd choices. I'm sure very heady metaphors drive all those actions, but they didn't speak to me.

What did speak to me - and I'm sure to everyone else in the good-sized crowd - was the music. It transcends the ages and was glorious in the flawless artistry of all the singers, Orchestra Iowa instrumentalists and conductor Daniel Kleinknecht.

This has to be one of the most complex orchestral scores I've heard from the opera theater. It was thrilling from beginning to end, filled with the wonderful German late-Romantic tradition of bombast, dissonance and drama.

All the vocals were stunning, as well, from the countertenor high male voice we so seldom get to hear to the majesty of Amy Johnson in the title role and Mark Schnaible's rich resonance as the prophetic Jochanaan (John the Baptist).

As an extra enticement, all the lead roles were played by world-class performers with Iowa roots.

Salome is a tour de force feat of stamina for any dramatic soprano, and Johnson, a Chariton native, handled her role with aplomb. Equally adept at singing, dancing and acting, her presence always commanded attention. She portrayed Salome as a cunning, manipulative seductress with a haughty air of entitlement. No one says “no” to her and lives to see another day.

Schnaible, a Sioux City native, thundered through his role with equal parts stoicism and possession as he spewed religious prophecy.

Sigourney native Katharine Goeldner and Coe College alumnus Jeffrey Dowd were perfectly paired as the shrewish wife Herodias and the weak, ineffective ruler Herod.

This production gives audience members much to discuss and debate on the drive home.

FAST TAKEInformation: www.cr-opera.org

What: Cedar Rapids Opera Theatre presents “Salome” by Richard Strauss

When: 2 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 17

Where: Gallagher-Bluedorn Performing Arts Center, 8392 University Ave., Cedar Falls

Tickets: $34 to $12 adults, $34 to $10 ages 18 and under, through UNItix, (319) 273-4849 or www.unitix.uni.edu

Discussion: Free talks with director Gregory Keller one hour before performances in Gallagher-Bluedorn's Jebe Hall

Extra:  Iowa Public Television will be taping “Salome” for broadcast at 8 p.m. Feb. 1 and 1 p.m. Feb. 7