Strauss - Salome, at the Bastille in Paris

ONP Bastille, Sunday May 12 and Wednesday May 22, 2024

Conductor: Mark Wigglesworth. Production: Lydia Steier. Sets and video: Momme Hinrichs. Costumes: Andy Besuch. Lighting: Olaf Freese. Salome: Lise Davidsen. Herodes: Gerhard Siegel. Herodias: Ekaterina Gubanova. Jochanaan: Johan Reuter. Narraboth: Pavol Breslik. Page der Herodias: Katharina Magiera. Erster Jude: Matthäus Schmidlechner. Zweiter Jude: Éric Huchet. Dritter Jude: Maciej Kwaśnikowski. Vierter Jude: Tobias Westman. Fünfter Jude: Florent Mbia. Erster Nazarener: Luke Stoker. Zweiter Nazarener: Yiorgo Ioannou. Erster Soldat: Dominic Barberi. Zweiter Soldat: Bastian Thomas Kohl. Cappadocier: Alejandro Baliñas Vieites. Ein Sklave: Ilanah Lobel-Torres. Orchestra of the Opéra National de Paris.

Photos: Charles Duprat/ONP

I'd already seen Lydia Steier's über-icky production of Salome in 2022 ('beyond nausea,' as one French critic wrote, see my account here), and wouldn't normally have wanted to cringe through it again. I didn't initially buy seats for the reprise when taking out this season's subscription. However... Having read and heard so much about Lise Davidsen, much of it dithyrambic some of it not, I was keen to find out for myself. The one time I was supposed to see and hear her, in Strauss's Four Last Songs at the Philharmonie, Covid struck and the Boston Symphony's visit was cancelled. So after some procrastination, I eventually bit the bullet and bought seats for a Sunday matinee.

As I don't need to describe the production again, I thought I might instead quote Lise Davidsen herself, from an interview in the May 2024 issue of Opéra Magazine, when asked how she was coping with it (translated lazily from French - though I suppose she was probably interviewed in English - using DeepL):

'Watching the live broadcast of the show two years ago, with Elza van den Heever as Salome, allowed me to see what I'd be dealing with - which is always more reassuring than imagining things, only to be warned that there will be a gang rape scene! This corresponds to Lydia Steier's very dark version, which plays heavily on the idea of domination and coercion. Salome is expected to perform the “Dance of the Seven Veils”. What better way to make this moment as painful as possible for her? Salome gives her body, literally and symbolically. I'm happy to accept ideas that may seem shocking, as long as they make sense, which is the case here. For the moment, I'm more concerned with the right way to deal with the masturbation scene at the beginning of the opera...'

She dealt with it, in the event, by half-turning discreetly away from the audience, which was a relief. On the whole, if anything else in the production had changed since last time, it was a slight toning-down of the grunge, plus some changes in the personification of characters, probably more down to cast changes than to directorial decisions.

So, at last I got to see and hear Lise Davidsen. I come late to the game, but while not revealing anything new, I can readily confirm what so many people have already proclaimed - and a few continue sourly to deny. Lise Davidsen has the kind of voice we rarely get a chance to hear. As my neighbour leaned across to remark at the end of Sunday's performance, while we waited for the curtain calls, 'C'est quelque chose. Ah là là là !' Elza van den Heever was already impressive last season, but Lise Davidsen is plainly on another level altogether. It's rare to hear any voices really 'conquer' the Bastille, though some say the gaping cavern is relatively kind to sopranos. I thought back to Dame Gwyneth Jones as Elektra, and Deborah Voigt as Chrysothemis. Different voices, of course, very, but Lise Davidsen has similar power, and her voice is still youthful, on peak form.

Not just power, though. You could tell from the first portamento, too, that her performance was going to be artful, as well as note-perfect in a way that again recalled Voigt: you could take down the score as you listened. I know some people don’t care, but I appreciate that. Also, she takes no surreptitious little breaks for breath before a ringing top note; she really sings the part through in long, flowing phrases - 'ridiculously long arcs,' as a poster on Parterre put it. Also, her characterisation is more supple, less rigidly monolithic than Elza van den Heever's last season. I particularly enjoyed her varied, effective repertoire of smiles as Salome had an idea or got her way. She brought a certain youthful charm, even coyness, to the role, if indeed Salome can be said to be coy and charming.

The rest of the cast was also stronger and more even, overall, than before. Pavol Breslik made a real, full character out of Narraboth, for example. Ekaterina Gubanova can still sing Herodias - powerfully - while having a ball with her character. Gerhard Siegel's dark-timbred Herod is of the 'ça passe ou ça casse' kind, but in the end it passes, without undue barking or breaking, in a way that suits the character. Johan Reuter sings a sonorous, fairly bright-sounding Jochanaan that might, perhaps, if Im' going to quibble, be a bit more charismatic.

Some of the supporting roles were noticeably well sung, too - Katharina Magiera's page for example. Only the Nazarenes let the side down.

Mark Wigglesworth's approach to the score was more reservedly musical than wildly dramatic, and I thought I felt an occasional chute de tension, but the orchestral playing remained alert, especially compared to Simon Young's dull, placid conducting last season.

This was a thrilling matinee and the audience exploded when Lise Davidsen emerged through the curtains for her solo bow. I wondered how anyone sane could write, as I read on a French blog, that her Salome was 'an immense mediocrity.' I was glad that, in the end, I bought the tickets - and have now bought some more, so I can see it, or more accurately hear it, again next week.

*****

Ten days later: I went back tonight for another helping, and by now, though, of course, the production hasn't improved one iota, with everyone thoroughly well oiled and more at home in it, and the sense of stiffness, the touch of reserve in the orchestra gone, it was a magnificent performance.

Here, the great Maestro Wenarto kisses Jochanaan's lips: