A desperately decadent Salome revived in Naples

Ricarda Merbeth (Salome)

Rocarda Merbeth (Salome), Charles Workman (Herodes) and Liona Braun (Herodias)

Salome

Ricarda Merbeth (Salome) and Brian Mulligan (Jochanaan)

By Lorenzo Fiorito, 21 March 2025

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“Ricarda Merbeth... commanding, navigating the complex score with expressive nuance”

Reviewed at Teatro di San Carlo, Naples on 20 March 2025

Strauss R., Salome

Teatro di San Carlo

Dan Ettinger, Conductor

Manfred Schweigkofler, Director

Nicola Rubertelli, Set Designer

Kathrin Dorigo, Costume Designer

Claudio Schmid, Lighting Designer

Orchestra del Teatro di San Carlo

Coro del Teatro di San Carlo

Charles Workman, Herodes

Lioba Braun, Herodias

Ricarda Merbeth, Salome

Brian Mulligan, Jochanaan

John Findon, Narraboth

Štěpánka Pučálková, Herodias' Page

Liam James Karai, 1st Nazarene

Žilvinas Miškinis, 2nd Nazarene

Dominic Barberi, 1st Soldier

Artur Janda, 2nd Soldier

Gregory Bonfatti, 1st Jew

Kristofer Lundin, 2nd Jew

Tianxuefei Sun, 3rd Jew

Dan Karlström, 4th Jew

Stanislav Vorobyov, 5th Jew

Giacomo Mercaldo, Cappadocian

Vasco Maria Vignoli, A slave

Corpo di Ballo del Teatro di San Carlo

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***11

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The French director’s much-travelled production arrives at the Teatro di San Carlo, displaying a precise balance between word, gesture and voice.

*****

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***11

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Lorenzo Fiorito

Lorenzo Fiorito holds degrees in Humanities and in Languages and Literatures, and a Phd in Languages for Special Purposes. He is a lecturer in historical musicological subjects at the Pegaso University, Naples, the Universitas Mercatorum, Rome and MEDEA Higher Education Institution, Malta, currently researching musicology as a special language. He is a member of the National Music Critics Association and of the Italian Society of Musicology. He edited a series of volumes in Musicology and History of Music for the publisher Diana Edizioni, mainly concerning the Neapolitan School of Music of the 18th century, and is the founder and artistic director of the “Francesco Durante Festival” in Frattamaggiore.