SALOME

AVAILABLE UNTIL: SEPTEMBER 25 2021
RUNNING TIME: 1 HR 49 MINS

OPERA | STRAUSS WITH STEMME + RIGOLETTO

Salome is given everything she desires. Men adore her and she is used to getting what she wants. But there is one man she cannot have, because he only has eyes for God. Salome desires the captive, deeply pious, John the Baptist. The more he rejects her, the more obsessed she gets. Salome’s stepfather, Herod, is obsessed too, by his stepdaughter. He promises her whatever she wants if she dances for him. Salome dances, then she demands the head of John the Baptist on a silver platter.

A dysfunctional family and forbidden desire are served when Richard Strauss’ brutal Salome, based on a play by Oscar Wilde, returns to the Royal Opera. Director Sofia Jupither made her opera debut with this production in 2013, which also featured star soprano Nina Stemme in the title role. The press corps was in agreement: the magazine Opera wrote »we have every reason to rejoice over this new production« and that »the audience is privileged for this production that reaches world class in the orchestra pit«. And the praise did not end:
»Salome in top class« DN
»Legendary Salome« Aftonbladet
»Salome born again« Expressen
»The thought that it can not get better makes me both elated and a little sad« Expressen
»Wasn't this how it used to be at the Opera during Birgit Nilsson's glory days?« UNT

WATCH SALOME ON YOUR TV (IN SWEDISH)

Cast & Creatives


music Richard Strauss
Libretto Hedwig Lachmann after Oscar Wilde
Conductor Lawrence Renes
Director Sofia Jupither
stage design Lars Åke Thessman
costume design & mask Maria Geber
light Linus Fellbom
choreographer Roger Lybeck
dramaturge Katarina Aronsson
translation Lasse Zilliacus


herodes Niklas Björling Rygert
herodias Marianne Eklöf
salome Nina Stemme
jochanaan (john the baptist) Josef Wagner
narraboth Jonas Degerfeldt
the page of herodias Frida Josefin Österberg*
jewish men
Magnus Kyhle, Anders Blom, Pierre Gylbert, Jon Nilsson,
Mattias Olsson*
nazarenes John Erik Eleby, Tomas Bergström
cappadocian Ian Power
soldiers Mattias Milder, Lennart Forsén, Oscar Rosberg
slaves Anna Danielsson, Agnes Thorell, Theres Sawander

Royal Swedish Orchestra
Concert master Jannica Gustafsson

* student at Operahögskolan

RIGOLETTO
act 1

The Duke of Mantua spends his time terrorizing his subjects. Rigoletto, the duke’s jester, survives in the palace by facilitating his master’s debauchery. A man, whose daughter has been abducted by the Duke, turns up at a banquet. When Rigoletto mocks him, the man casts a spell on him, which frightens him, for he is a very different person when he is not playing the jester. At home, Rigoletto is over-protective of his daughter Gilda who longs to see the world…
This production from 2018 was hit both with critics as well as the public and is currently played at the Royal Swedish Opera. If you would like to get your hands on one of the coveted tickets, you can get it here.

CAST


MUSIC Giuseppe Verdi
LIBRETTO Francesco Maria Piave, after Victor Hugos play Le roi s’amuse
CONDUCTOR Lionel Bringuier
DIRECTOR Sofia Jupither
STAGE DESIGN Erlend Birkeland
COSTUME & MAKE UP Maria Geber
LIGHT Ellen Ruge
DRAMATURGE Katarina Aronsson
TRANSLATION Annika Brandt

DUKE OF MANTUA Leonardo Capalbo
RIGOLETTO Karl-Magnus Fredriksson
GILDA Ida Falk Winland
SPARAFUCILE John Erik Eleby
MADDALENA Katarina Leoson
GIOVANNA Susann Végh
COUNT MONTERONE Kristian Flor
MARULLO Anton Eriksson
BORSA Jihan Shin
COUNT CEPRANO Jens Persson
COUNTESS CEPRANO Emma Vetter
A COURT USHER Ian Power
A PAGE Ella Morin (elev vid Operahögskolan)

ROYAL SWEDISH ORCHESTRA
CONCERT MASTER Jannica Gustafsson

MEN FROM THE ROYAL SWEDISH ORCHESTRA
CHORUS MASTER James Grossmith
ASSISTANT CHORUS MASTER Krystian Bellière