There are some famed recordings of
Strauss's 1905 opera,
Salome, recounting the tale of the biblical Jewish princess of the title. This 2025 release, which made classical best-seller lists in the spring, is unlikely to displace
Montserrat Caballé's 1989 recording with the
London Symphony Orchestra and the aging but still-sharp conductor
Erich Leinsdorf. Soprano
Malin Byström is not
Caballé, but she grasps the luridness of the tale and has the personality to carry it along, and the veteran
Katarina Dalayman as Herodias is also a pleasure. This concert performance was recorded live at the Edinburgh Festival after semi-staged readings by conductor
Edward Gardner, and this brings about the results one might expect; the performance brings out lots of detail, and
Gardner deserves credit for keeping the ineluctable story moving as if in a single gesture. If there were ever an opera that needed to be seen live, it is
Salome, with its "Dance of the Seven Veils" and, ultimately, the severed head of Jochanaan (John the Baptist). The opera doesn't maintain a coherent dramatic impact here, despite singers that are more than adequate. This is partly due to sound engineering problems; the opera was recorded at very low dynamic levels, and much of the singing, including many of the key lines of Jochanaan, gets lost in a kind of sonic murk that is beyond the usual live recording nature. Lovers of the opera will want to hear this, and
Gardner brings many fresh insights to the music, even if some listeners may be disappointed by the project overall. ~ James Manheim
