SALOME Strauss Irish National Opera

A king who desires his wild and wilful stepdaughter. Her erotic fascination with a condemned prophet. Salome is a study in obsessions, with lust and death at every turn. Based on Oscar Wildes play, Strausss 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, often dizzily thrilling, has not been blunted by time. This is no overture. A rising arpeggio on the clarinet launches Narraboth into his rapturous vision of Salome and, from there to the end, there is letup in the intensity and tension of the score. Composed in 1905, Salome is still one of the wildest and most rewarding rides at times of overwhelming intensity to experience, and one of the most challenging in the repertoire for the lead soprano. Sinéad Campbell Wallace singing the title role, complete with its 20minute final aria that moves from animal frenzy to demented erot