At the centre of the story, naturally, is Salome, played with a vixenish charm by soprano Antonina Ermolenko. Clad in a scarlet gown, she is naturally the centre of attention while on stage, and marries her stage presence with impressive vocal chops that could range from a seductive whisper when she tries to tempt Jokaanen to kiss her, to a strident rage when he does not.
Salome is a beautiful monster in the opera, fickle and impulsive, and someone whose desires and impulses have clearly never been put into question or held in check. Ermolenko embodies her whole emotional range. She’s relentless in her attempted seduction, then at turns gleeful and seemingly driven half-mad by the result of her own request for Jokaanen’s head.
Tenor Oliver Munar as the captain Narraboth is the first to fall under her spell in the opening scenes. He tries to protect her from her follies, and get her out of Jokaanen’s way, but all to no effect. Munar is a strong singer, and had some lovely passages where he opines on Salome’s beauty.
As Jokaanen, Michael Robert-Broder’s character had a more limited emotional range, and often sang from off stage (ostensibly in his cistern prison). Nonetheless, Robert-Broder created a strong presence in the opera even as he relentlessly berated the sinful rulers of Galilee.
Likewise, soprano Cristina Pisani’s Herodias occupies a supporting role. She’s the wife who scornfully tells her husband that he’s the son of commoners, and fruitlessly counsels Salome not to dance for her obviously lust-driven husband. But after she does, and hears the price Herod and Jokaanen will play, she turns smiling and vengeful. Pisani has a rich voice that nicely embodied the role.
Tenor Jason Lamont also shines in the unsympathetic role of Herod, both vocally and dramatically. He’s the stepfather without appropriate boundaries, bewitched by his stepdaughter, and heedless to the wife who’s right at his side. But then, the cracks begin to show as he turns from gratitude at the dance to growing horror at what Salome is really after, and paranoia and madness take over. Vocally, he goes from soft tenderness as he tries to coax Salome into other options (including eating fruit), and convincing anguish at what he’s done.
The ensemble cast had no weak links, including the Jews, soldiers and Nazarenes, the Page and Cappadocian, and their varied reactions to not only the situation at hand, but the rumours of a Messiah who is traveling down the coast and working miracles along the way.
