Four visions of Salome: Portrayal of a femme fatale in contemporary opera stagings

Abstract

The story of Salome, who caused the decapitation of John the Baptist with her seductive dance, has been an inspiration for numerous artists. Among them was Richard Strauss, who made a high-profile opera about her. This thesis examines the portrayal of Salome in four contemporary stagings of Strauss’s opera, to which end video recordings were used. Previous research has often concentrated solely on Salome, but in this thesis the focus is on her interplay with the other characters. Instead of portraying Salome as the customary femme fatale, these productions turn the well-known story in various ways into family affairs. The directors managed to raise current social issues in their stagings, such as sexual abuse within the family and alcohol abuse among teenagers.