REVIEW: Heartbeat’s SALOME Raised the Audience’s Blood Pressure--and the Roof--at Irondale

The people at Heartbeat Opera--that dazzling reinvention-machine for taking works that you think you might have heard one time too often and making them compelling--must have had a crystal ball when they programmed Strauss’s SALOME long before the current, decadent regime took control in US politics. My only complaint about that is that they couldn’t possibly have pictured the level of corruption we’re exposed to every day, or they would have taken their production one more step over the line.

I’ve seen lots of productions of SALOME, but none anything near the current one that Heartbeat Opera is performing at the Space at Irondale in downtown Brooklyn--where people lined up down the street in the freezing weather waiting to get in. The tale of the driven young temptress Salome infatuated with Jokanaan (John the Baptist), and her repulsive family, conjured plenty of heat when ticketholders came in from the cold.

Being so close to the action in this take on the opera gave me an idea of why the repulsion of audiences was so strong from its first performances in Dresden in 1905 and why the Vienna censors wouldn’t even consent to Gustav Mahler’s request to perform it in the Austrian capital.

And, of course, why it became so instantly popular that 50 other opera houses staged it within two years of its premiere. (The Met first did it in 1907, though later performances were cancelled after complaints by the patrons in the boxes and it didn’t reappear until 1934.)

By this time, I’m used to Heartbeat taking big chances in staging operas--which pay off more often than not. But I recall nothing like this, under the clear-headed direction of Elizabeth Dinkova and superb musical direction of Jacon Ashworth and his ensemble performing Dan Schlosberg’s unusual arrangement of the score.

With a Salome sung to the hilt by soprano Summer Hassan who had a Wagnerian size vocal presence (though costumed out of GREASE), an absolutely revoltingly good Tetrarch Herod sung (and danced, choreographed by Emma Jaster) by tenor Patrick Cook and a riveting and wild-eyed (and dirty underweared) Jokanaan from baritone Nathaniel Sullivan leading the cast of stellar singers, no assets seemed skimped on.

(Cheers also to soprano Manna K Jones as Salome’s mother Heriodias, and tenor David Morgans as Narraboth, the suicidal guard infatuated with Salome. There was also fine work from bass Jeremy Harr as a soldier and mezzo Melina Jaharis as the page.)

Even though the production values from scenic designer Emona Stoykova (with Emma Deane’s lighting) and costumes from Mika Eubanks were modest, the staging certainly didn’t seem “on the cheap.” The idea of putting Jokanaan onstage in a glass booth, rather than hidden away in the usual cistern for most of the opera, seemed a brilliant touch that should make others rethink their approaches.

There were, however, certain aspects that seemed a bit wrongheaded to me. For instance, doing it in English: Even though they used a sensible translation (borrowed from London’s ENO and adapted by Dinkova and Ashworth) rather than the usual German version by Hedwig Lachmann from the Oscar Wilde play, the supertitles were still necessary to make it understandable.

Then, let’s talk for a minute about the new orchestration by the resourceful Dan Schlosberg. While the original was heavy on winds, turning the whole ensemble over to octet of clarinets and their kin (besides the two sensational percussionists) seemed off to me--making the score sound more discordant than even the composer had intended.

Heartbeat’s SALOME will be performed through Sunday. For more information, see the website.

Caption: Nathaniel  Sullivan and Summer Hassan

Credit: Andrew Boyle

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