Salomè, one-act lyric drama by Richard Strauss, with a libretto which is Hedwig Lachmann's German translation of the French opera Salomè written by the English poet and writer Oscar Wilde in 1891 and edited by the composer. The opera is famous and at the time of its premiere, even infamous, for its Dance of the Seven Veils. The final scene is often heard as a concert piece for dramatic sopranos. The plot tells the story of when King Herod promises his stepdaughter Salomè, princess of Judea, everything she wants in exchange for a dance. The king does not know that she will ask for the head of the prophet John the Baptist served on a tray and that she will kiss this head on the mouth. If the story of Salomè dates back to the Gospels, it is Oscar Wilde's tragedy, written in 1891, that gives the myth all its strength, intertwining sexuality and religion, desire and death, obsession and decadence. The third opera composed by Richard Strauss introduces highly modern vocal and orchestral music, causing a scandal at its premiere in Dresden in 1905. How is it possible to restore the disturbing force of this intense and sensual work today? By placing Salome in a near future where death and sex are the order of the day, Lydia Steier offers a radical vision that profoundly renews the character and invites us to question our own excesses.
