SALOME at the Met

Tuesday September 30, 2008 - Karita Mattila has returned to sing the title-role in SALOME at the Met, a production in which she triumphed in 2004. (Ken Howard photo, above) She gives a complete performance, unsparing in vocal passion and utterly inhabiting the role at every moment. At times she seems pushed to the very limits of her voice's possibilities but she plunges on, sailing up and down the range from full-throttle tops to sultry chest tones. A few of the highest notes seemed just a shade flat and not all her forays to the top fell pleasingly on the ear but she swept aside any concerns with her complete involvement - the kind of personal commitment that has marked so many great operatic interpretations over the years. I've seen some fantastic Salomes - Rysanek, Niska, Bumbry, Marton, Behrens, Malfitano - and Mattila stands comfortably in that stellar assemblage. 

Mikko Franck was to have conducted but withdrew due to illness and Patrick Summers took over. His tempi were excellent and the glistening orchestral effects and decadent harmonies of the music were given full rein. His unfortunate tendency to swamp the singers detracted from the overall success of the evening. 

Juha Uusitalo as Jochanaan was most affected by Mr. Summers' orchestral onslaughts. The Finnish bass-baritone has a warm timbre and could have been a very fine Jochanaan had Mr. Summers permitted us to hear more of his singing. Wisely, Uusitalo didn't try to out-shout the orchestra. In the beautiful passage where the prophet tells Salome to seek Christ at the Sea of Galilee, Uusilato made his most telling effect of the evening.

 

Ildiko Komlosi made a meal out of the role of Herodias. Looking like glam photos of Elizabeth Taylor with her black hair, dangling jeweled earrings and luxuriant decolletage, this Herodias gives her daughter a run for her money in the sex-bomb department. But in this production Herodias is too busy getting plastered to even think about sex. Ms. Komlosi sang Charlotte in WERTHER here for her Met debut in 1999; at that time she was a lyric mezzo and gave a very attractive performance. She has since gone the dramatic route and her big, biting voice flourished in the over-the-top phrases of Herodias. I'll look forward to her Santuzza later this season opposite Jose Cura.

[In December 2006, Ms. Komlosi's became something of a household name (well, in opera-loving households anyway) when she was singing Amneris at La Scala on the night Roberto Alagna walked off after being heckled following his "Celeste Aida". Ms. Komlosi remained onstage and Alagna's understudy, Antonello Palombi, still in street clothes, appeared and began singing.]

Kim Begley as Herod was somewhat hampered by the volume Summers was sending up from the pit; Begley's voice isn't quite thrustingly metallic enough to cut thru. He had many colorful phrases and a brilliant top note as he ordered Salome's death. He wasn't as loutish or grotesque as some who have played the role.

Joseph Kaiser seemed to push his tone somewhat but he was a sturdy Narraboth. Lucy Schaufer's deliciously fruity tone made her a very appealing Page and Morris Robinson's torrent of sound was truly impressive as the First Nazarene (a role I heard Samuel Ramey sing early in his career). Keith Miller and Richard Bernstein were strong-voiced Soldiers and Allan Glassman's First Jew was cuttingly sung; the scene of the Jews was very amusing. Reveka Mavrovitis made an effect as the Slave and David Won looks great in a tux - but the Met needs to give him bigger roles than that of the Cappadocian. 

The nightclubbish setting looked quite dazzling tonight, and Dmitry and I were surprised - as we took our seats - to see a new front drop-curtain of fanciful cherubs which wasn't part of the original design. I thought maybe they'd changed the opera to MEFISTOFELE.

The house was nearly full and it was one of the most attentive audiences in recent seasons. The newly-restored chandeliers look brilliant - now if they'd remove that 'Fidelio' sculpture from over the proscenium the Met would be looking pretty good. Despite a big roar for Mattila, the applause died promptly after one set of bows. Curiously, as the whole cast was bowing we heard a couple of very loud boos but it was hard to guess who or what they were aimed at.

Comments

[TsuhYang]

hey philip,

well, i'm gonna try to make it to salome this month. i had some reservations about mattila in this role -- i loved her in lohengrin and jenufa -- she made me cry in the janacek work -- but i always found her tone to be a bit too weepy for salome. but mostly, i think she's too placid and not maniac/hysterical enough for this part. i listened to her doing the last scene on youtube and i wasn't totally convinced that it's a great fit for her. but as you know, salome is one of my favorite operas.

i saw begley in the first run of jenufas at the met (with mattila) and he and the other brit tenor made no impression on me. i hardly remember them. the more recent runs had a much stronger cast (for the tenors and the kostelnicka -- silvasti and silja were great, and it was a magical evening).

in the early 90's, at the time of the mapplethorpe/NEA escandale, i went to the gay pride parade in manhattan, and there was a very thin, willowy black drag queen dancing in odalisque/belly dancer attire, holding a flat cardboard piece covered in shiny paper. she was dancing around and we were all wondering what she was doing with that piece of cardboard. then a few feet behind her, someone came up holding a large guillotine and the big head of jesse helms, and then the odalisque went over near it, the guillotine came down and the head of jesse helms landed on her platter. that was a hysterically funny piece of street theater.

[Philip]

Mattila placid? Well, in this production Salome is drunk so maybe she seems placid. She was carrying on like crazy last night.

[TsuhYang]

i meant vocally. i haven't seen it yet. maybe it's just me. when i hear her on youtube, i don't hear the fire/mania/hysteria in the voice as much as with other singers.

[DYB]

I think Mattila pretty much owns this role at the moment. Philip and I were trying to think of someone who could step into the Met's current production...and couldn't really come up with a name.

I loved this production and Mattila's performance since the final dress rehearsal I saw when it was new in 2004. It was technically a "closed" rehearsal, so there were very few people there, packed into Grand Tier. Valery Gergiev was in the pit. And you could hear a pin drop through the entire performance. I remember calling a few people as I walked out of the theater to rave about what I'd just seen and heard. I saw it a total of 5 times that season. The revival holds up for the most part. I really like the production. Mattila still owns that stage. And I thought Komlosi was an improvement over Larissa Diadkova (not enough neurosis) and Victoria Livengood (not enough high notes.) Kim Begley I don't think is neurotic enough either; his less hedonistic approach is a valid one, but I prefer a much dirtier old man. Siegfried Jerusalem and Allan Glassman (who filled in for Jerusalem several times) were superb in '04. Albert Dohmen and Bryn Terfel made a stronger impression as Jochanaan back then than Uusitalo now, but perhaps it's because Gergiev (uncharacteristically) was much more careful with the volume coming out of the pit than Summers. Overall I thought Gergiev's conducting had an urgency and a momentum Summers was lacking. But with Strauss' extraordinary orchestration you just can't help but marvel at the sheer sound of it all. I'm guessing Mattila won't be doing any more revivals of this...so we might have to wait a while to hear "Salome" again...

[DYB]

Oh, and as far as booing. It really was hard to tell who they were aimed at because the person waited for the entire cast bow...I guess they objected to everything. During the opera's original run I was at one performance where some idiot decided to make himself heard with a loud "Boo" just after the final chord crashed and before the applause started. It came from Family Circle. No class and again, it's hard to tell what specifically he was objecting to. Perhaps he just liked the sound of his own voice.

[Nicole]

Philip,
Wait to you hear Ildiko Komlosi sing Santuzza. She's really great & full of passion in this role. Her voice is beautiful as well as her physical appearence. On top of that, she's a good colleague.

[Philip]

Hi Nicole,

It's so nice to see your note here! Did you sing Lola with Komlosi in Berlin?

Hope you are happy...and busy!

xxx,
Philip

[Nicole]

Hi Philip,
Sorry I've been out of touch. Yes, very busy with the other La Boheme.
I did in fact have the pleasure of working with Ildiko in Cavalleria. I'll never forget how she grabbed the bottom of my dress when she sang "O fate bene, fate bene, Lola! It was awesome & I loved how she caught me completely off guard!