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Gale Edwards' Opera Australia staging of Richard Strauss' bloody opera is revived with Lise Lindstrom in the title role. 

This Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra concert was titled simply "Degenerate" and designed to showcase works that were – or would have been – banned for their so-called "degeneracy" during the Third Reich, either for the perceived "radical" nature of the music or for the simple fact the composer was Jewish.

Salome was a huge, scandalous success at its 1905 première, and stagings of this, Richard Strauss’ third opera, have continued to shock audiences over the past century. This is hardly to be wondered at: after all, the title character’s final monologue ends with her kissing the severed head of John the Baptist, whom she has had executed for spurning her advances.

Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and the incidental music by Mendelssohn it inspires both employ a wide range of expressive techniques in their respective medium. Bringing the drama and the music together in one performance, the Queensland Symphony Orchestra and 4MBS Arts Productions delivered an evening of finely tuned light entertainment.

Isabella Steppan berichtet von einem Potpourri aus Gewesenem, Überraschungen und Abschieden unter der Leitung von gleich zwei Dirigenten bei der Gala anlässlich des Endes der Intendanz Elisabeth Sobotkas.