Salome – Mariusz Treliński | #music

Mariusz Treliński’s staging of Richard Strauss’s Salome brings the biblical story to the present day.

Salome is – next to Elektra – the most recognizable of Richard Strauss’s works. The story of a hidden relationship between a stepfather, his adopted daughter and a mother who's eager to rule is at the same time a tragedy of faith, fear, and helplessness. The action plays on the relationship between the titular protagonist and the prophet Jochanaan – the elusive object of her desire. The play was produced in cooperation with the Teatr Wielki-Polish National Opera and the National Theatre in Prague.

Since its premiere in Dresden in 1905 Salome has become one of the most often performed operas. Mariusz Treliński wondered about its exceptional position:

A dozen mysterious lines from the Bible has launched dozens of artists. Throughout the time of my realization I found out that almost three thousand dramatic, painting and poetic realizations have already been created. I was shocked by the fact that such a few lines resonate in us so strongly.

The play also tells of the relationship between Salome and Herodes, a perverted stepfather who lives in constant fear of death. Salome – according to the artist because of her will to catch what is elusive – demands to get the head of the prophet, who rejected her feelings, on a silver tray.

Scena z przedstawienia operowego "Salome" w reżyserii Mariusza Trelińskiego, 2016, fot. Krzysztof Bieliński / Teatr Wielki Opera Narodowa — A scene from the performance Salome directed by Mariusz Treliński 2016, photo: Krzysztof Bieliński / Grand Theatre/ National Opera

In Treliński’s interpretation the biblical story is moved to the present day. Viewers see the drama of a family who lives in the wealthy, bourgeois world. After its premiere in the Czech Republic, reviewers referred to the play as a ‘splendid psychological thriller’. Treliński was quoted as saying:

It is a play with the convention. Maria Janion said that there are strong tropes of psychoanalysis in the thriller genre. We filled the play with an infringed realism mixed with different dimensions of the genre. Our idea was to play with that convention.

All of those artists who subordinate to the myth, circulate around the magical moment of cutting head off, kissing dead lips and forgetting themselves. This is the time when accomplishment is identical to extinction […] I decided to pass away the religious context and concentrate on the family. My will is to understand the woman: to elaborate on reasons for such a decision, on reasons for cutting somebody’s head off.

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Strauss based the libretto of his work of art on Oscar Wilde’s play. The protagonist is customarily presented as a dangerous woman, an avatar of perversion. Treliński describes Salome as a passive woman who is a tool in the hands of her possessive mother. The director reached for Freud’s psychoanalysis by implementing protagonist’s fantasies and psychic projections. Treliński was reported as saying:

I thought that this is a story about the trauma of encountering sexuality far too early. A form of defiance occurs and has an impact on Elektra’s relation with men, which is either elevated and unrealistic – represented by the perfect Jochanaan – or totally rotten. I wanted to see the contemporary story in the play, find the Salome complex and approximate to the infeasible situation of cutting head off and kissing dead lips in the reality of today.

The performance was accompanied by a publication that consists of three texts: Oscar Wilde’s Salome, Gustav Flaubert’s Herodias and Richard Strauss’s libretto in the new translation by Antoni Libera.

Directed by Mariusz Treliński. Scenography: Boris Kudlička. Costumes: Marek Adamski. Choreography: Tomasz Wygoda. Musical setting: The Teatr Wielki-Polish National Opera Orchestra conducted by Stefan Soltesz. Starring: Jacek Laszczkowski, Veronika Hajnova, Erika Sunnergaerdh/Alex Penda, Jacek Strauch, Pavlo Tolstoy, Magdalena Idzik, Josef Moravec, Krzysztof Szmyt, Mateusz Zajdel, Adam Zdunikowski, Tomasz Sławiński, Remigiusz Łukomski, Dariusz Machej, Katarzyna Trylnik.

Source: PAP, compiled by M.Ś., March 2016, translated by Antoni Wiśniewski, March 2016

The Teatr Wielki-Polish National Opera