Salome by Strauss, From (2019/2019), Directed by Gabriele Lavia, Gianni Marras, Conductor Juraj Valčuha, Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Bologna, Italy

Based on the homonymous version by Oscar Wilde, Richard Strauss's Salome had its first performance in 1905 in Dresden. The composer was famous for his symphonic poems such as Till Eulenspiegel and Thus Spoke Zarathustra, but this masterpiece also brought him to the fore in the opera house and was followed by the most famous Electra , The knight of the rose , The woman without shadow . At the debut Salome did not receive a warm welcome, causing scandal and irritation from the audience at the sadism and violence of the subject and the stinging eroticism that emanated from the music. Strauss in fact exasperates the instrumental warp to consider the orchestra as the true protagonist of the opera - so much so that some consider it a dramatized symphonic poem -. The story is that of Salome, daughter of Herodias, who is said to be in love with Jochanaan (John the Baptist), but unrequited and strongly rejected by him. Resentful of this refusal, the protagonist will dance for the tyrant Herod, who is in love with her, to obtain in exchange the beheading of the Baptist.