Strauss Salome final scene pt 2 of 3

[VanGoghRothko]

boring

[elise216]

Beautifully shot. It's talented directing that can take something that could be either disgusting or wildly overplayed and turn it into something terribly sad and moving.

[yuhamkoha]

delightfully disturbing.

[nprvlwimp]

the beauty of Richard Strauss combined with the pen of Oscar Wilde. Perfection!

[parzifal40]

No one could write a truly magnificent melody as well as Richard Strauss....those melodies always seem to come out of such turbulence and mayhem and that makes them even more beautiful.....I can think of no other composer who could capture the horror and beauty of the moments the way Mr. Strauss did...I simply love his music.

[gaytanto]

A opera resgata os mais profundos sentimentos e se apresenta como uma oportunidade de externarmos quem realmente somos: seres sensiveis e amantes da arte

[yamiko193]

is it true that this is montserrat caballe?

[munkustrap79]

@yamiko193 are you idiot?

[GABYCONSTANZA]

@yamiko193  Try Teresa Stratas!!

[psychicbyinternet]

Definitely my favourite Salome.

[bluedutch01]

I agree, at 4:50 and beyond we hear some of the most amazing sounds, beautiful sounds beyond words to describe.... I personally, just ignore the dark nature of the plot and focus on her angelic voice.

[Paddy818]

Absolute perfection! The true successor to Callas!

[09salcobaca]

Magnífica. Uma interpretação de arrepiar. Todas as intenções, as expressões e os pianíssimos... Absolutamente maravilhosa.

[ZenPapageno]

But you have to work awfully hard to make German sound good, don't you?

[Hailstormand]

Poor thing, Salome. This is one of the greatest moments in music, and Strauss would have wept with joy were he to see this.

[gilbertoagostinho]

@Hailstormand Strauss, weeping? He was the coldest person ever born.

[psychicbyinternet]

@gilbertoagostinho What, you met him? lmao

[Connie193]

what a great performance! she is one of the few singers you can still understand well in this aria. who's singing Salome?

[spn1007]

This is the truly amazing video with Teresa Stratas and conducted by Karl Bohm. I own it and it's well worth purchasing. She's one of the few Salome's I've seen who actually seems like a teenage girl even though she's clearly much older. An amazing singer and actress. And Astrid Varnay's hand-wringing Herodias is also worth the price of the ticket!

[unclealand]

@spn1007 You can say that again, and again, and again.

[rumpwrestler]

@spn1007 Stratas never sang this role on the stage. Her voice isn't strong enough over that orchestra.

[spn1007]

@rumpwrestler You are absolutely right (though I never heard her live). Thank God she did this though, because her portrayal is spot on and you can hear her loud and clear over the orchestra thanks to the miracles of modern technology!

[ssballs]

She had the little girl thing pat down.

[knutini]

Who said German is an ugly language. This is proof that if sung well German can be beautiful. Listen at 4:50 like 17mathieu said.

[nonameformee]

German can be ugly. I saw this opera before and loved it, so it is not ugly in all cases for sure!

[rumpwrestler]

@nonameformee This comment is clearly from a deaf dog turd

[17mathieu]

4:50 beautiful

[acubiac]

This is so deep i think that Salome is poor thing, after have had read libretto. the music is very expresive,especially in the second part.

[dragmio]

I heard people say Strauss "copied" Wagner in this opera, but to me this is better than Wagner. Melodically, at least. Although, I'm not much of an expert.

[doctorw2]

this opera has to be the darkest ever made.

[tonyinvan]

au contraire it's just another happy tale from the bible.... ok it got blown a little out of proportion but these stories are meant to frighten you into believing in heaven and hell and the rest

[rumpwrestler]

@doctorw2  Hardly.....

[cmhmuscle]

one of my teachers once said that if you don't feel just a little nauseated and as if you just want to scrape dirt off yourself after this, it's not being done right

[operaleonie]

@doctorw2 this and elektra!

i only wished stratas sang elektra as the main role

[fredstoyva]

@doctorw2

The darkness had just begun, so to say. Strauss wrote Elektra after Salome, and pushing the envelope further harmonically was a certain Alban Berg with "Wozzeck" and "Lulu" (very beautiful pieces nonetheless, especially Lulu), and then we have WW2 in which everything deteriorates.... Ligeti's "Le grand Macabre", Penderecki's "Ubu Rex" etc. My personal favourite is Zimmermann's "Die Soldaten". You won't leave the theatre very cheerful after a performance of Die Soldaten I promise you.

[GABYCONSTANZA]

@fredstoyva I loved Stratas in Lulu too!!

[opera7bubbles]

@doctorw2 Either this or his Elektra takes the number 1 spot...that's a pretty "dark" one as well. :)

[lilsiegfried]

@doctorw2 probably not though. try lulu.

[Levita35890]

@doctorw2

Have you ever seen XX centurys post opera ? or although "The King Roger" by Szymanowski ?

[doctorw2]

@Levita35890 no i havent

[Levita35890]

@doctorw2

So Try it, its also very "dark" and beautiful :)

[LohengrinT]

@doctorw2

darkest? because it has some necrophilia and father-daughter incest in it? no way

It is Art! In Art everything is blessed! lol

[RamirRMA]

@LohengrinT Ooooooooooohkay, so you're not being sarcastic? lol

[metemQ]

@doctorw2 check out Elektra--Strauss, too

[doctorw2]

@metemQ ive seen that opera too my GOD what a powerfull intro and finale!

[metemQ]

@doctorw2 Yes, precisely! I find that one darker than even Salome. The dissonance in the music reaches a new level.

[rubenmsk]

@doctorw2 there's other one that in my point of view is the darkest opera Salome BY Strauss

[MuscleDaddyCMH]

@doctorw2

One of my teachers once said that if you don't leave the theatre wanting to just scrape the dirt off yourself after this opera it was a weak performance. :) I always kind of liked that.

[codonauta]

@doctorw2 Darkest than Elektra? I don´t think so.

[TFreckle]

@codonauta They're both dark. In ways vastly different from one another. The story of Salome is clearly darker than that of Elektra, however, the music in Elektra is extremely dark, much darker than Salome.

[codonauta]

@TFreckle Yes, that is it.

[jonesclcalgary]

to nomsdufrere- what is your definition of doing something to make the world better? Isn't the ability to create something of beauty a gift for those who hear it? So much of what happens in the world is so ugly, where do people go to find solace? And art does not have to "break the current state of the facts" to be valid as art. What about the metaphysical power of art? Its power to help us connect with the divine, have you discarded that aspect of its function?

[cattjones]

not to mention opera has found it's way into effecting every person who open themselves to these timeless storys..

[cattjones]

the storys the composers created are relatable, and have been used to change the way we look at another art form today. the musical, RENT, was based of the story of la Boheme. RENT was a musical that opened many peoples eyes to the AIDS epidemic in the 80's. these story's that you say we can not be effected by? that we cannot relate to socially? every artist who has been short on cash can relate to la boheme. any one who

[cattjones]

has been jealous can relate to otello. and anyone who is smart would stop insulting an art form that they no nothing about.

Laura J - soprano, young opera singer and actress

[nomsdufrere]

but opera singers are simply not able to make this happen because they live on how the states of fact are arranged today--i.e., they are confined to be ONLY ENTERTAINERS...unfortunately..­whatever they do, they are only entertainers and cannot do much for the overall consciousness of humanity. Art is something which is supposed to break the limits of the current state of facts, not to just leave them as they are and earn money on that. That's why opera singers are, ultimately,only entertainers.

[796824]

Welitsch sang this this role and made it

her own.

[mogajones]

to currymuttonpizza,

It would interest me to know how long you've been watching opera. From your comments, it sounds as if you're relatively new, and therefore don't know what you're missing ...

[mogajones]

Besser geht nicht. I remember, I saw this in Wién ( knew it already) at the open air film show at the Rathaus. God .... Heaven ...

[portoxali]

I was in Wien couple of years ago and I also had a chance of watching Gergiev's conducting at the Rathaus..it is really a great tradition..

[meriomeri]

Oh, wow, this is wonderful.

[nomsdufrere]

This is the closest opera can get to real art. and all thanks to the wonderful filming and wonderful acting that otherwise would not be visible

[currymuttonpizza]

A) Opera IS art...

B) Opera singers LEARN how to act for the stage. If someone did film-acting on a stage, of COURSE none of it would come across. That's why a good opera singer knows how to work with the stage, and you DO see the acting. And that's where the art becomes visible.

[nomsdufrere]

Opera usually is not art. Operatic composers are artists but not opera singers-an artist is a person who is so greatly involved in what s/he does that he should also be in some way socially engaged. Opera is, unfortunately, bourgeois people's fun and hedonistic pleasure. This music will live in 300 years and opera singers will continue to stage it. There is some merit in doing it but it cannot be compared to how much we owe Richard Strauss and his genius.

[jonesclcalgary]

the opera singers not involved? have you seen even one of the modern day met productions at the met, how about Peter Grimes by Benjamin Britten. have you ever sung through a difficult and emotional aria? you'd also have to be ignorant enough to say acting isn't an art, that is doesn't take creativity. keep your uninformed comments to yourself.

[nomsdufrere]

I actually did sing for a while and was able to percieve a limit to operatic artistry, especially if we are talking about italian operas. There definitely is something artistic in what opera singers are doing but it mostly depends on the quality of voice that they have. For example, someone with a small voice, no matter how talented actors they may be will NEVER be able to bring about an emotiong such as the one we experience when we listen to someone who has both a large voice and acting gift

[nomsdufrere]

Apart from people with small voices being unable to bring the drama forth in spite of all the (possible) greatness of their heart, I have never heard that an opera SINGER has somehow contributed to the overall good of the humanity to a great extent. We can say that composers, writers, painters have been working hard to change the state of mind of humanity and make us better...maybe some opera singers have this kind of desire, to bring better to the world...

[currymuttonpizza]

nomsdufrere, disregard my previous comment, I think I misunderstood you at first... unless you really were actually implying that opera isn't real art... haha

[3tristan]

I agree...this is the best opera-film I ever saw.

And let us not forget the great playwriter Oscar Wilde with his great vision!

White+Black+Red=Incarnat-colou­r(peachblossem)

Maybe intuitiv, but Oscar knew it....

[vigwig]

One of the greatest acting/singing videos ever. Stratas is amazing.

[kazakhman52]

Teresa Stratas ....Canada's soprano.... probably one of the best Nedda's ever

[jlee800]

I never thought Teresa Stratas could sing Salome. She looks completely in character.

I love 4:50, my favorite part!

[SDCmorg]

She only agreed to sing because it's a film with studio recording and she didn't have to compete with that Strauss orchestra live, I think. Lucky us. A marvelous Salome indeed. Varnay says in her memoir that Stratas had to dub her voice to an orchestral recording due to schedule conflict. Boehm wasn't even there! And she did in in one take!

[greenstboy]

Teresa is indeed amazing. Not to mention Strauss!!

[kazimierzmichalkiwic]

thanks Lightsbear

[lightsbear]

Yes. Teresa Stratas.

I have that recording on DVD.

[kazimierzmichalkiwic]

Is she Teresa Stratas? She is amazing.