Salome Is the Dec. 17, 2016, Metropolitan Opera Saturday Matinee Broadcast

Summary: The Dec. 17, 2016, Metropolitan Opera Saturday matinee broadcast is Salome, a one-act opera about an unnamed New Testament dancer by Richard Strauss.

Strauss' Salome airs as the Dec. 17, 2016, Saturday matinee broadcast during the 2016-2017 Met Opera season: Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera via Twitter Dec. 5, 2016

Salome, a one-act tragic opera about an unnamed New Testament dancer, often subsequently identified as Herod II and Herodias’s daughter Salome, by German composer Richard Georg Strauss (June 11, 1864-Sept. 8, 1949), is the Dec. 17, 2016, Metropolitan Opera Saturday matinee broadcast.

German author, poet and translator Hedwig Lachmann (Aug. 29, 1865-Feb. 21, 1918) wrote the libretto as a German translation of Salomé, a one-act, French-language tragedy by Irish playwright, poet and writer Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde (Oct. 16, 1854-Nov. 30, 1900). Wilde's play concerns a beguiling dancer, unnamed in New Testament accounts but subsequently often identified as Salome.

Wilde's play introduces Salome as the daughter of Herodian Dynasty Princess Herodias (ca. 15 BC-after 39 AD) and Herodias’s first husband, Herod II (ca. 27 BC-33/34 AD). Salome's stepfather, Herod Antipas (before 20 BC-after 39 AD), is the half-brother of Herodias’s first husband. Salome’s dance of the seven veils for Herod Antipas results in her stepfather’s granting her wish for the head of imprisoned Jokanaan (John the Baptist) on a silver platter.

The premiere of Strauss’s Salome took place Dec. 9, 1905. The venue was Semperoper, the opera house of the Sächsische Staatsoper Dresden (Saxon State Opera), located in the historic center of Dresden, Saxony, east central Germany.

Salome premiered in the opera house’s second building. German architect Manfred Semper (May 3, 1838-Sept. 13, 1913) designed the second opera house in the Neo-Renaissance style. The second building replaced the first, designed by Manfred’s father, Gottfried Semper (Nov. 29, 1803-May 15, 1879), and destroyed by fire in 1869.

Strauss and his librettist set Salome at the time of Herod Antipas’s reign (4 BC-39 AD) as tetrarch of Galilee and Perea in Judaea Province. The Metropolitan Opera’s 2016-2017 production of Salome fast forwards the opera’s timeline to a non-specific contemporary setting.

The Saturday matinee broadcast of Salome begins at 1 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (6 p.m. Coordinated Universal Time). The estimated run time for the performance is about 1 hour 38 minutes. The performance, sung in the original German, comprises one act, timed at 98 minutes, and no intermissions.

Johannes Debus conducts all performances, including the Saturday matinee broadcast, of Salome. His birthplace is Speyer am Rhein, Palatinate, southwestern Germany. The German conductor’s appearance on the conductor’s podium for this season’s production of Salome marks his Metropolitan Opera debut.

Patricia Racette appears in the title role as the seductive dancer whose dance of the seven veils clinches her receipt of the severed head of Jochanaan (John the Baptist) on a silver platter. She was born in Manchester, Hillsborough County, south central New Hampshire. The American operatic soprano debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 1995 as Musetta in La Bohème by Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini (Dec. 22, 1858-Nov. 29, 1924). This season Patricia Racette also appears as Roxane in Cyrano de Bergerac by Italian composer and pianist Franco Alfano (March 8, 1875-Oct. 27, 1954).

Patricia Racette shares the title role this season with Kirsten Chambers. Patricia Racette appears in most of the opera’s December performances, including the Saturday matinee broadcast.

Kristen Chambers appears in the Dec. 13 performance. Her hometown is Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, southwestern Pennsylvania. The American soprano makes her Metropolitan Opera debut with this season’s appearance as Salome.

Nancy Fabiola Herrera appears as Salome’s mother, Herodias, who encourages her daughter in her mission to have Jochanaan beheaded. Nancy Fabiola Herrera was born in Caracas, north central Venezuela, to Canarian (Canary Island) parents. The Spanish mezzo-soprano debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 2015 as Suzuki in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly. Nancy Fabiola Herrera also appears this season as Fenena in Nabucco by Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (Oct. 10, 1813-Jan. 27, 1901) and as Maddalena in Verdi’s Rigoletto.

Gerhard Siegel appears as Herod, who makes a blanket promise to his stepdaughter without any suspicion of Salome’s scheme. His birthplace is Trostberg, Bavaria, southwestern Germany. The German tenor debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 2004 as Mime in Das Rheingold by Wilhelm Richard Wagner (May 22, 1813-Feb. 13, 1883).

Željko Lučić appears as Jochanaan (John the Baptist), whose denunciation of Herodias’s divorce from her first husband and hasty marriage to her first husband’s half-brother infuriates the Herodian Dynasty princess and motivates Salome’s extraction of a fatal promise from her stepfather. Željko Lučić was born in Zrenjanin, Vojvodina, northern Serbia. The Serbian operatic baritone debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 2006 as Barnaba in La Gioconda by Amilcare Pnchielli (Aug. 31, 1834-Jan. 16, 1886). Željko Lučić also appears this season in the title roles of Verdi’s Nabucco and Verdi’s Rigoletto.

Željko Lučić shares the role of Jochanaan this season with Greer Grimsley. Željko Lučić appears in most December performances, including the Saturday matinee broadcast.

Greer Grimsley appears in the Dec. 28 performance. His birthplace is New Orleans, southeastern Louisiana. The American bass-baritone debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 1994 as Captain Balstrode in Peter Grimes by Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (Nov. 22, 1913-Dec. 4, 1976). This season Greer Grimsley also appears as Don Pizarro in Fidelio by German composer Ludwig van Beethoven (bapt. Dec. 17, 1770-March 26, 1827).

Kang Wang appears as Narraboth, a Captain of the Guard who is infatuated with Salome and who commits suicide in jealous despair at Salome’s attempted, failed seduction of Jochanaan. Kang Wang was born in Harbin, Heilongjiang province, northeastern China. The Australian-Chinese lyric tenor makes his Metropolitan Opera debut with this season’s appearance as Narraboth. Kang Wang also appears this season as the First Prisoner in Beethoven’s Fidelio.

Operabase, an online database, places Richard Strauss at number 10 in a ranking of 1,281 most popular composers for the five seasons from 2011/2012 to 2015/16. Salome places at 40 in the list of 2,658 most popular operas.

The Metropolitan Opera’s 2016 Repertory Report gives performance statistics through Oct. 31. Salome holds place 46, with 157 performances, for the period from first Met performance, Jan. 22, 1907, to last performance, Oct. 16, 2008. The Metropolitan Opera’s 2016-2017 season falls outside the report’s parameters.

The takeaway for Salome as the Dec. 17, 2016, Metropolitan Opera Saturday matinee broadcast is Salome’s determination to avenge Jochanaan’s denunciation of her furious mother by way of an irresistible dance that ensnares her stepfather in her scheme.

The 2016-2017 Met Opera season's performances of Strauss' Salome revive Jürgen Flimm's new staging, which debuted March 15, 2004, at Met Opera: Metropolitan Opera @ MetOpera via Facebook Feb. 17, 2016

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Strauss' Salome airs as the Dec. 17, 2016, Saturday matinee broadcast during the 2016-2017 Met Opera season: Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera via Twitter Dec. 5, 2016, @ https://twitter.com/MetOpera/status/805891753773506560

The 2016-2017 Met Opera season's performances of Strauss' Salome revive Jürgen Flimm's new staging, which debuted March 15, 2004, at Met Opera: Metropolitan Opera @ MetOpera via Facebook Feb. 17, 2016, @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/photos/a.10156647457545533.1073741891.20807115532/10156647458090533/

For further information:

"Composers: Composers Ranked by the Number of Performances of Their Operas Over the Five Seasons 2011/2012 to 2015/16." Operabase > Opera Statistics.
Available @ http://operabase.com/top.cgi?lang=en

“Debut: Greer Grimsley.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 318860 Peter Grimes {56} Metropolitan Opera House: 12/23/1994.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=318860

Metropolitan Opera @ MetOpera. "Richard Strauss’s revolutionary score and scandalous Oscar Wilde–inspired drama took the world by storm at its premiere and continues to wow audiences today. . . .Photo by Marty Sohl/Metropolitan Opera." Facebook. Feb. 17, 2016.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/photos/a.10156647457545533.1073741891.20807115532/10156647458090533/

Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera. “Tune-in Alert! Listen live to opening of Strauss's #Salome w @patriciaracette, online & @SIRIUSXM 7:55PM ET!” Twitter. Dec. 5, 2016.
Available @ https://twitter.com/MetOpera/status/805891753773506560

“Performances Statistics Through October 31, 2016.” MetOpera Database > The Metropolitan Opera Archives > Repertory Report.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/Database%20Opera%20Statistics.xml