Oscar Wilde originally wrote his drama in French. It was later translated into German and became the libretto for Richard Strauss’s masterpiece, which premiered on December 9, 1905, at the Königliches Opernhaus in Dresden. The Latvian National Opera stage has seen four striking productions of Salome, where the principal part was interpreted by the outstanding opera singers Milda Brehmane-Štengele, Žermēna Heine-Vāgnere, Solveiga Raja and Ieva Kepe.
Princess Salome of Judea is infatuated with Jochanaan, the prophet of new faith. When King Herod invites Salome to perform a dance for him, she demands a ruthless price in return – the princess wants the prophet’s head. The veiled events tell a story of obsessive love, more powerful than rational thought. Although the action is set in ancient Judea, in his latest production, Director Alvis Hermanis transports us to modern Israel – a place where ideologies and religions have tangled in a tight knot, more so than anywhere else in the world.