Current Events: Why we "lost our heads" over "Salome"!

by Eleanor Bartsch

It’s been approximately two decades since Salome last appeared on our music stands at Lyric. There’s been palpable excitement in the orchestra since its announcement. Below, we dig into why. 

THE PLOT- HEADS WILL ROLL…

Salome is one of opera’s grisliest plots. Much of the last scene involves the title character interacting with the bloody severed head of Jochanaan (John the Baptist). During Lyric’s current David McVicar production, an actor portraying the executioner appears nude and covered in stage blood. Since mid-January, musicians have had to walk around a literal “blood bath” on the way to the pit where said actor is appropriately doused during the performances (behind a modesty curtain, of course). Many productions play into the psychological elements of the story, making the experience of performing Salome powerful and somewhat unnerving!

THE SCORE- ON EVERYONE’S BUCKET LIST!

Richard Strauss wrote Salome between 1903 and 1905 at a time when composers began to abandon the safety of traditional tonality and explore modern and abstract musical language, often using larger and larger orchestras. Salome’s score (which requires 94 musicians!) pushes against all these boundaries and, along with its extremely dark subject matter, makes it an important bridge from romantic to modern opera. The result is an electrifying piece that is extremely complex and difficult, even by 2026 standards! The massive orchestra makes balance with even the most powerful singers very challenging, and the music often sounds and feels as if it’s about to burst at the seams. Every single musician has to give their all at all times and has put in many, many hours of study and preparation. 

Salome is a standard part of the repertoire of most opera companies, but certainly not performed as much as beloved classics like Carmen or La Boheme (in part because the large orchestra makes it expensive to produce). It feels special to perform such an important work of art.   

2nd year Lyric bass trombonist Will Baker has been looking forward to this production for many months. 

“Salome… was the first opera I’ve done with Lyric that featured my audition excerpts! The excerpt from Salome was my number one favorite on the entire audition list. It comes from a big low brass moment about 35 minutes into the opera, just after Jochanaan sings to Salome “Du bist verflucht!”, or “You are damned!”, launching us into the wild and passionate orchestral interlude.”

Strauss’s score also has some interesting anomalies requiring very specific skills from the musicians, notably a part for a rare oboe relative called the “heckelphone.” This is a lower-pitched oboe that adds rich low tones to the woodwind section. For Lyric’s production, a similar bass oboe is being used. 

THE EPIC PIT SQUISH

It’s not easy to get 94 musicians into the pit! This includes the Lyric Orchestra’s regular members along with 40 extra musicians. “It was on everyone’s radar from the summer,” said personnel manager Christine Janicki, whose job it is to find and hire the extra players. Janicki was also responsible for drawing the initial “pit plot,” which maps out where each player will sit. “It’s a bit of a puzzle!” says Janicki.

THE TAKEAWAY

Performing Salome feels larger than life! Although we may have some processing to do when the run wraps up, we hope it’s not another 20 years before we get to see this score again!