{"id":55426,"date":"2026-04-16T21:35:16","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T18:35:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/?p=55426"},"modified":"2026-04-16T21:35:16","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T18:35:16","slug":"israeli-opera-salome","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/?p=55426","title":{"rendered":"Israeli Opera: Salome"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Israeli Opera – Salome\/Photo: Yossi Zwecker<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Celebrating its 40th<\/sup> season, the Israeli Opera resumes performances with Salome, the daring, tempestuous opera by Richard Strauss. Director Itay Tiran created a sensual, dark, and visually mesmerizing production that returns to the stage after an absence of seven years, from May 8 \u2013 18, 2026, under the baton of Dan Ettinger.<\/p>\n

The opera is based on Oscar Wilde\u2019s scandalous play Salom\u00e9, with the eponymous, bold, princess at its center. As the daughter of Herodias, when her mother married Herod, she became his stepdaughter. Hearing the voice of John the Baptist, who has been imprisoned by Herod, Salome is captivated, and demands to see the intriguing prisoner, using her wiles to convince the guard Narraboth to bring him out. On seeing him, Salome is consumed by desire, but John spurns her. Rejected, she finds a unique and bloody way to exact her revenge. Herod, who is inappropriately fond of his stepdaughter, asks her to dance for him. She seizes the opportunity and says she will dance if he grants her anything she requests. The dance of the seven veils is one of the highlights of the opera \u2013 the first Salome (1905), German soprano Marie Wittich, refused to perform the dance and a dancer stood in for her. As her reward for performing, Salome asks for John the Baptist\u2019s head on a platter.<\/p>\n

The violence and eroticism of the opera shocked audiences, especially in relation to Biblical characters. The opera was banned in London until 1907 for this reason. At the American premiere of Salome, a critic wrote: \u201cthe story is repugnant to Anglo-Saxon minds.\u201d Yet the power of Strauss\u2019s music, as well as the intensity of the story and characters \u2013 make this a most compelling opera.<\/p>\n

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Israeli Opera – Salome\/Photo: Yossi Zwecker<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In Tiran\u2019s interpretation, \u201cSalome is the sun in a world without sun, she is a young woman searching for meaning and finding her purpose in destruction that is intended as a precursor to rebuilding and healing. The world in which she exists is a dark one in which all human resources and value systems have been destroyed, while she, the sun, is the source of the moon\u2019s light as it reflects her, and the moon, therefore, occupies a central place onstage.\u201d The famous Dance of the Seven Veils, choreographed by Renana Raz, takes on a new meaning, according to Itay Tiran \u2013 it is not only a moment of seduction, but a ritual act, through which Salome discovers her power, in her search for meaning. \u00a0The set design by Eran Atzmon and costume design by Orna Smorgonsky contribute to the post-modern, almost dystopic feel of the production, as do the lighting by Avi Yona Bueno (Bambi), and the video art by Yoav Cohen, which turns the moon into an active and ominous presence onstage.<\/p>\n

Salome, which premiered in Dresden in 1905, was based on the play Salom\u00e9 by Oscar Wilde. Strauss saw the play in a German translation by Hedwig Lachmann and was inspired to create the opera, making his own edits to the libretto. The role of Salome is particularly challenging, requiring a demanding vocal range. In the music of the opera, Strauss makes use of leitmotifs, short, recurring melodies, some of which are associated with specific characters, such as Salome and Jochanaan (John the Baptist). The role of Salome will be performed by the Soprano Marie Webb, and that of Jochanaan by Baritone Ionut Pascu, the Tenors Charles Workman and Wolfgang Schwaninger will share the role of Herod, and Mezzo-Soprano Natascha Petrinsky and Edna Prochnik will share the role of Herodias, with Tenors Aaron Blake and Eitan Drori sharing the role of Narraboth.<\/p>\n

In anticipation of the opera, there are several events that can augment one\u2019s enjoyment of Salome. An hour before each performance there will be an introductory lecture in the auditorium, free of charge for ticket holders. Backstage tours will take place on Thursday, May 14th at 18:45, and Sunday, May 17th at 16:45. Opera TalkBack is an open conversation that will take place after the performance, on the foyer of the second floor, on three dates: Monday, May 11th, Thursday, May 14th, and Sunday, May 17th. The one-act opera will be performed without an intermission and will be sung in German.<\/p>\n

Performance dates: Friday, May 8th at 13:00; Saturday, May 9th at 20:30; Monday, May 11th at 20:00; Tuesday, May 12th at 20:00; Thursday, May 14th at 20:00; Friday, May 15th at 13:00; Sunday, May 17th at 18:00; Monday, May 18th at 20:00 (Gala)<\/p>\n

Tickets may be ordered online from the Israeli Opera<\/a>, or call 03-6927777.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Celebrating its 40th season, the Israeli Opera resumes performances with Salome, the daring, tempestuous opera by Richard Strauss. Director Itay Tiran created a sensual, dark, and visually mesmerizing production that returns to the stage after an absence of seven years, from May 8 \u2013 18, 2026, under the baton of Dan Ettinger. The opera is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":55428,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,3],"tags":[665,138,664,109,591,663],"class_list":["post-55426","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music","category-theater","tag-dan-ettinger","tag-israeli-opera","tag-itay-tiran","tag-opera","tag-richard-strauss","tag-salome"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55426","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=55426"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55426\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55430,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55426\/revisions\/55430"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/55428"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=55426"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=55426"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=55426"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}