Readings and Agenda - Class 3
"Salome", the opera by Richard Strauss.
After some introductory material including musical themes, we'll view and listen to selections from the opera.
Supplementary Material
You can prepare and get some insight into the opera by perusing materials that had been on the New York Met Opera site as a Met Opera Guide:
Opera Background (2 pages)
Using Salome to Teach Music, with musical themes (9 pages)
Using Salome to Teach Humanities (7 pages)
Introductory talk videos from the San Diego Opera:
Podcast (14:35) A look (and listen) at Salome and the cultural and artistic environment of the Expressionist period.
Leimotifs in Salome (9:54)
There are some videos of the complete opera – we'll be viewing excerpts of the Teresa Stratas/Karl Böhm version in class. Here are some:
Teresa Stratas/Karl Böhm (1975) (1:40:46) Subtitles available in English
Catherine Malfitano/Christoph von Dohnányi (1997) (1:49:37) No subtitles
Hildegard Behrens/Herbert von Karajan (1978) (1:45:24) Audio only
Georg Solti, Vienna Philharmonic (1961) (1:39:17). Audio with orchestral score. Likely with Birgit Nilsson, Gerhard Stolze and Grace Hoffman
Final scene
Ljuba Welitsch/Fritz Reiner (1952) (16:22) Audio only. Following a historic, famous performance in 1949 at the New York Met.
Inge Borkh/Fritz Reiner (1955) (17:03) Audio only.
View or download
Salome Libretto in English (23 pages)
Salome Libretto in German (10 double pages)
Complete score - Scenes 1-3 (122 pages)
Complete score - Scene 4 (226 pages)
Videos of Salome's Dance
Maria Ewing (4:58) This production from 1992 is available on DVD. Sir Edward Downes conducts the Orchestra of Royal Opera. Alert: total nudity at the end.
Richard Strauss conducting Berlin Philharmonic (1928) Audio only (8:42).
Rita Hayworth (1:57) 1953 The Hollywood film "Salome", with Charles Laughton as Herod and Judith Anderson as Herodias. The soundtrack is decidedly not the Richard Strauss music and the story is not the Oscar Wilde play.