In Richard Strauss’s one-act Salome, the audience’s collective verdict is revealed only at the curtain call. Yet the fervour of the applause last night at the Komische Oper Berlin left little doubt: the reception was rapturous. As the packed house spilled into the night, one phrase echoed everywhere: ganz fantastisch! And indeed, how could it have been otherwise, with Nicole Chevalier’s sumptuous assumption of the Judean princess at the heat of the evening.

Retracing the evening in reverse, what unfolded on stage was the collapse of a royalty engulfed by lust and excess, framed within Rufus Didwiszus’s magnificent sets. Esther Biala’s costumes offered a perfect mirror to this exuberant vision. Directon Evgeny Titov’s declared intentionwas to present Salome as she is: die Prinzessin vor Judäa, with all the caprice and froideur that such a title implies. Hence the playful, buoyant and delicate gestures that Nicole Chevalier executed with consummate ease throughout the evening, joined by the superb dancers – graceful beyond compare – in the spellbinding Tanz der Sieben Schleier.

With that established, everything follows a tightly woven logic: a Herodias (Karolina Gumos) defined by sheer arrogance, the very one who bursts out Meine Tochter und ich stammen aus königlichem Blut; a Herodes (Matthias Wohlbrecht), far too lascivious to avert the impeding disaster; and a court exuding nothing but turpitude and decay. In short, a vision that aligns closely with the libretto’s intent, realised with an aesthetic pleasing to the eye, despite certain excesses (not least the rather coease orgiastic episode during Herodes’s Schenkt mir Wein ein! in the fourth scene).

With surges now fiery, now subdued, James Gaffigan’s conducting impressed by its suppleness in bringing out the charms and enchantments of the score, though at times it softened passages where excitement ought to have reached its peak, or conversely amplified the orchestral weight when delicacy and restraint were called for. Yet whenevec the dramatic tension was required to crest, his direction proved exemplary, shaping musical layers that lent the stage emotion an even greater immediacy.

Nicole Chevalier, once a member of the Komische Oper Berlin, returned with a Salome of rare refinement. Her performance combined poise and power, every gesture and inflection shaped with taste and assurance. Above all she embodied the princess with sovereign stature, her soaring lines and sustained breath cutting through the orchestral tumult. Even moments of unexpected lightness (notably in Du wirst das für mich tun, Narraboth) confirmed this Salome as a portrayal to be seen and remembered.

Wild, craven, incorrigible, … the epithets are many for Matthias Wohlbrecht’s Herodes, a portrayal of striking force that matched the quality of Nicole Chevalier’s Salome. Alongside him stood Karolina Gumos as a formidable Herodias, commanding both theatrically and vocally, and ultimately emerging as the true mistress of the drama in Evgeny Titov’s staging. Günter Papendell offered a Jochanaan as marble‑like as he was commanding. His blazing voice, resonant and unassailable, carried the authority of the most fervent preachers, gradually turning to disgust and contempt for the wretched entourage of the tetrarch of Judea.

Susan Zarrabi lent unexpected nobility to the Page, while Agustin Gomez gave Narraboth’s suicidal innocence a suitably lyrical tenor. Special mention must go to the excellent Juden (led by Ivan Turšić’s exquisite contribution) whose electrifying intervention in the fourth scene proved one of the opera’s most delirious moments, abruptly silenced by Gumos’s tyrannical Heiss’ sie schweigen, sie langweilen mich! As contrast, Junoh Lee and Christoph Späth brought sweetness and poise to the Nazarener, while Philipp Meierhöfer and Andrew Harris impressed with clear diction and commanding projection as the Soldaten.

Experiences such as this evening at the Komische Oper Berlin remind us with delight that Strauss’s Salome remains inexhaustible. Score, libretto, cast and creative team together illuminated the work afresh, offering a vision renewed yet faithful to its original spirit.

Musikalische Leitung | James Gaffigan · Inszenierung | Evgeny Titov · Bühnenbild | Rufus Didwiszus · Kostüme | Esther Bialas · Choreografie | Martina Borroni · Dramaturgie | Wolfgand Behrens · Licht | Sebastian Alphons

Salome | Nicole Chevalier · Herodes | Matthias Wohlbrecht · Herodias | Karolina Gumos · Jochanaan | Günter Papendell · Narraboth | Agustín Gómez · Ein Page der Herodias | Susan Zarrabi · Erster Jude | Ivan Turšić · Zweiter Juder | Johannes Dunz · Dritter Jude | Thoma Jaron-Wutz · Vierter Jude | Ferdinand Keller · Fünfter Jude | Andrew Nolen · Erster Nazarener | Junoh Lee · Zweiter Nazarener | Christoph Späth · Erster Soldat | Philipp Meiherhöfer · Zweiter Soldat | Andrew Harris · Ein Kappadokier | Stephanos Tsirakoglou · Ein Sklave | Grace Heldridge · Laura Beschi, Danielle Bezaire, Lea Birkhoff, Giorgia Bortoluzzi, Theoni Boufi, Leonor Campillo, Alicia Diges Sanz, Lindsay Dunn, Michael Fernandez, Benjamin Gericke, Claudia Greco, Valeriia Hereha und Rachel Skipor | Tänzer:innen · Komparserie und Orchester der Komischen Oper Berlin · Cover photo credit: ©Jan Windszus Photography.

(For further informations) Link to the Komisch Oper Berlin website: Salome