SALOME - Richard Strauss - SOFIA OPERA AND BALLET

INFORMATION
17, Thursday,December,
SALOME 19.00h.
With the participation of: ANGELO SIMOS, Andreana Nikolova, Tsvetana Bandalovska, Biser Georgiev, Nikolay Motsov, Rumyana Petrova, Daniel Ostretsov, Krasimir Dinev, Nikolai Pavlov, Valeriy Georgiev, Stoil Georgiev, Miroslav Andreev, Petar Buchkov, Stoyan Balabanov, Angel Hristov, Dimitar Stanchev, Nikolay Argirov
Conductor EMIL TABAKOV

20, Sunday,December,
SALOME 19.00h.
With the participation of: ANGELO SIMOS, Andreana Nikolova, Tsvetana Bandalovska, Biser Georgiev, Nikolay Motsov, Rumyana Petrova, Daniel Ostretsov, Krasimir Dinev, Plamen Papazikov, Valeriy Georgiev, Stoil Georgiev, Miroslav Andreev, Petar Buchkov, Stoyan Balabanov, Angel Hristov, Dimitar Stanchev, Nikolay Argirov
Conductor EMIL TABAKOV

Richard Strauss
Salome

Synopsis

Setting a large terrace in front of King Herodes palace; Judea, А.D. 30

From King Herodes palace could be heard the noise of the feast. The kings stepdaughter, Salome, goes out on the terrace to breathe pure air and escape from the eager eyes of the king. The Syrian Narraboth, captain of the palace guard, is following amorously the beautiful girl and exclaims: How beautiful is Princess Salome tonight! She doesnt pay attention to him, but she hears another voice coming out of the bottom of the empty well this is Jochanaan, the prophet of the new faith Christianity. Salome demands to see him. The Syrian tries in vain to stop her Herodes strict order forbids to Jochanaan to go out of his underground prison. But the young woman is tenacious and Narraboth cannot resist her any more he orders to bring out the prophet.
The exhausted and worn out with suffering Jochanaan attacks with bitter words the criminal King Herodes and his wife Herodias who have to pay for their sins. The fascinated Salome cant take her eyes off him and is eagerly listening to his ardent words. In the end, she approaches the prophet and tells him: Now I want to kiss you, Jochanaan!.
The prophet rejects Salome with disgust, but she insists and repeats her wish. Then Jochanaan curses her and descends back into the prison well.
Seeing how much Salome desires the prophet and that she doesnt pay any attention to him, the despaired Narraboth commits a suicide.
King Herodes cannot control any more his desire to possess Salome, but she laughs at him with disdain.
Out of the well could be heard again the words of the prophet.
Herodias wants to make that voice finally cease, but Herodes is not willing to kill the prophet. In the words of Jochanaan he hears the warnings of the fortune-tellers.
Herodes asks Salome to dance for him. Salome agrees, but only under one condition that after the dance he would fulfill one wish of hers. Herodes gives his consent.
The dance of Salome begins. In the beginning quietly and slowly, gradually it is gaining in tempo, and in the end it unleashes this is the dance of the seven veils, apotheosis of love and sensuality. At the end, Salome falls down on the ground, totally exhausted. From the king she wishes only one thing to bring her the head of Jochanaan. Herodes is willing to give her everything: gold, riches, his palace so that she abandons her insane wish. Salome is unbending she demands only one thing: the prophets head.
Herodias, her mother, is content. She pulls off from Herodes hand the ring-seal with which death sentences are being signed in Judea.
The executioner descends into the well. Silence fells over which makes blood freeze... At the end, the plate with the cut-off head of Jochanaan appears.
Mad with passion, Salome kisses the prophets dead lips. Herodes shudders with horror. After that, he turns to the guards and orders: Kill Salome!

Category:

Music

Tags:

• opera

[johndoe044]

and dear vilabreze, what has my insulting behaviour towards tb got to do with you?

[vilabreze]

@johndoe044: You're free to have an opinion but you're not free to voice it in an insulting and rude manner. You said that Tsvetana Bandalovska is shallow and an average performer. That's not an opinion, that's an outright insult. And to top it off, it's objectively untrue.

[johndoe044]

How lucky we are to have a reality expert that tells us we cannot trust our common sense and have no right to dislike. God bless reality!

[vilabreze]

@papoocanada: Your comment is very far from reality. The performance and the artists were great.

[vilabreze]

@johndoe044: You're very far from reality in your comment. The performance and the artists were great.

[vilabreze]

@rumpwrestler: You're very far from reality in your comment. This was a great performance with great artists.

[vilabreze]

You should all be ashamed of yourselves for writing such vile, unfounded comments. I know opera and I was there that evening.The staging was very good, the conductor Grigor Palikarov drew the best legato from the somewhat staccato music, and the artists did a wonderful job, particularly Tsvetana Bandalovska as Salome and Biser Georgiev as Johanaan.

[papoocanada]

lousy, cheap production.....what is it dirty laundry ?

[rumpwrestler]

The acting is atrocious. The Jochanaan is dreadful...this production is something from a high school show....and Tsvetana must think that what she is doing is sexsy....when it's just shallow and thoughtless. THIS is the type of production without merit, without one solid idea...and by the way: The German diction is terrible.

[johndoe044]

Tsvetana, dear, you can be a star in Sofia but you are an average performer and youll always beno matter how many superlatives the press writes for you. I hope as a person you are not as shallow as an artist.