Royal Opera Salome, all shock and no substance
by Christie Connolley
Photo Credit: Alastair Muir
Rupert Christiansen of the Telepgraph, is not the biggest fan of David McVicker’s production of Salome at the Royal Opera.
The best quote from the review is, “Why is the needlessly naked executioner so coy about showing us his wobbly bits?”
However, the serious and thoughtful review begins:
“Nothing in David McVicar’s production of Salome, revived by Justin Way, surpasses its electrifying opening tableau – upstairs, a royal elite indulge in a five-star banquet; downstairs, in a filthy white-tiled kitchen, servants, palace guards and prostitutes hired for the evening sullenly await their orders.
McVicar’s inspiration for interpreting Strauss’s opera seems to have been Pasolini’s last film Salo, a hellish vision of fascistic decadence, degradation and sadism. It’s a powerful concept, but not one he manages to develop fully.”
Read on here.
