Salome by Strauss, From (2024/2024), Directed by Bruno Ravella,, Conductor Fergus Sheil, National Opera House, Wexford, Ireland

MIND YOUR HEAD A royal, Succession-like power struggle. Lust and death at every turn. A king who desires his wild and wilful step-daughter. Her erotic fascination with a condemned prophet. The result is a horrific trade. Based on Oscar Wilde’s play. Strauss’s landmark opera was greeted with shock, horror, excitement, awe, respect, censorship, scandal, condemnation, just the kind of responses that fill theatres and cinemas to this day. The music, sweet, sour, erotic, frenzied, often dizzily thrilling, has not been blunted by time. Salome is still one of the wildest and most rewarding rides you can experience in an opera house.