A brilliant new Salome launches Zurich Opera's season

By Sarah Batschelet, 14 September 2021

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Reviewed at Opernhaus, Zurich on 12 September 2021

Strauss R., Salome

Zurich Opera

Simone Young, Conductor

Andreas Homoki, Director

Hartmut Meyer, Set Designer

Mechthild Seipel, Costume Designer

Franck Evin, Lighting Designer

Claus Spahn, Dramaturgy

Wolfgang Ablinger-Sperrhacke, Herodes

Michaela Schuster, Herodias

Elena Stikhina, Salome

Kostas Smoriginas, Jochanaan

Mauro Peter, Narraboth

Ilya Altukhov, 1st Nazarene

Cheyne Davidson, 2nd Nazarene

Valeriy Murga, 1st Soldier

Alexander Fritze, 2nd Soldier

Stanislav Vorobyov, 5th Jew

Oleg Davydof, 5th Jew

Flurin Caduff, 5th Jew

Andrew Owens, 4th Jew

Luis Magallanes, 4th Jew

Yi-An Chen, 4th Jew

Iain Milne, 1st Jew

Riccardo Botta, 1st Jew

Diego Silva, 1st Jew

Siena Licht Miller, Herodias' Page

Henri Bernard Guizirian, Cappadocian

Orchester der Oper Zürich

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Davide Livermore’s high-octane production transforms Handel into a lavish blockbuster. While the superstars shine, the relentless entertainment-first approach often sacrifices musical refinement and dramatic logic for Netflix-style spectacle.

***11

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Laura Servidei, 21st September

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****1

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***11

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Anna Pirozzi and Piero Pretti bring Italian sunshine to Baumgarten’s confused production at the Opernhaus Zürich.

**111

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****1

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Benjamin Bernheim leads a very good cast in a revival of Tatjana Gürbaca's interesting 2017 production.

***11

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Sarah Batschelet

Sarah Batschlelet, long based in Switzerland, took a degree in Art History from Smith College, Northampton, Massachuetts, and lives as a freelance writer and editor near Zurich.