_DESCRIPTION_:
Richard Strauss - Salome (2003) [DVD9 NTSC]
Actors: Catherine Malfitano, Bryn Terfel, Kenneth Riegel, Anja Silja, Robert Gambill
Directors: Hans Hulscher
Writers: Hedwig Lachmann, Oscar Wilde
Format: Multiple Formats, Anamorphic, Classical, Color, Dolby, NTSC, Subtitled
Language: Italian (Dolby Digital 2.0), German (DTS 5.1), German (PCM Stereo)
Subtitles: English, Spanish, French, Italian, Chinese
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Number of discs: 1
Studio: Decca
DVD Release Date: May 13, 2003
Run Time: 109 minutes
A production of Metropolitan Opera Association, Inc.
.: Tracklist :.
To hear every note of the score in immaculate digital sound, consult Christoph von Dohnányi's 1994 Decca recording with the Vienna Philharmonic. Strauss's timbres glow in clear focus – cor anglais blended with heckelphone, pointillistic splashes of harp or tam-tam. The downside is a lack of wildness. Catherine Malfitano is a flawed but potent Salome; while she may produce a few harsh sounds above the stave, she gives a
distinctive spin to almost every line. The maturing Bryn Terfel creates a near-definitive Jochanaan, at once vocally splendid and fully human. Kenneth Riegel, as Herod, errs in the direction of camp but is enjoyable throughout. These singers also appear with Dohnanyi on a Decca DVD of Luc Bondy's Salome production, as mounted at Covent Garden, with Anja Silja adding a drunkenly statuesque Herodias. It's an appealingly austere, uncluttered vision of the opera, with Malfitano brooding rather than vamping. The soprano's fans will also want the DVD of her gloriously unrestrained 1990 performance at the Deutsche Oper Berlin.
The most recent Salome is among the best: a Chandos set with Michael Schønwandt leading the Danish National Radio Symphony. No kitschy excess here: the opera emerges as an edgy, uneasy, modem-sounding work, its bleak comedy amplified. Inga Nielsen, who died in February [2008] at the age of 61, fashions a Salome of warped, girlish innocence – a blank slate inscribed with the squalor of Herod's court. She shows unflagging energy in the monologue, with violent spite giving way to eerie tenderness. Reiner Goldberg, as Herod, is more understated than most, whispering lines that others shout. Schønwandt etches details while cannily building an atmosphere of dread.
Pronouncing a ‘best’ Salome is difficult, given that most listeners will have personal favourites among the singers. Welitsch holds pride of place in the historical live category, though Cebotari, Rysanek and Nilsson (1965) are close behind. Among studio Salomes, Varnay and Caballé deliver perhaps the most authoritative vocal turns. In the digital era, the Chandos set stands out for its interpretative intelligence. Teresa Stratas dominates the DVD market with her dangerous allure, although she would face serious competition if Karita Mattila's astounding portrayal were properly documented. But, in the end, I nominate Karajan's as the most devilishly sophisticated Salome of all.
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