Salome and Blogger Night at the Opera

It’s opening night of Salome at the Vancouver Opera and I’ll be covering the evening on my site and Twitter along with Raul, Tanya, Tris, and Kimli. This is the final performance of the season and I’ve been lucky enough to attend every production by the Vancouver Opera this year.

Mlada Khudoley (Salome), John Mac Master (Herod), Judith Forst (Herodias)
Photo: Tim Matheson

Updates will begin around 6:00pm and so far I hear Salome will include things like nudity and a beheading and with a tag line of “lust and prophecy in Judea” to boot. I’ve come to realize that with opera, there really isn’t a dull moment.

You can view the opera’s manga at OperaLive to get an idea of the story and read the VO’s blog for a preview of Salome along with cast interviews.

Update: My mother and I have arrived at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre for Salome and have settled in at the blogger table. I also won’t be able to check the Canucks score throughout the evening but I have a feeling that (being two blocks away from GM Place) we’ll be able to hear the jubilation and car horns outside if our team is victorious.

Update: Richard Strauss’ opera is based on the play by Oscar Wilde about Salome… “Christian traditions depict her as an icon of dangerous female seductiveness, for instance depicting as erotic her dance mentioned in the New Testament (in some later transformations further iconised to the dance of the seven veils), or concentrate on her lighthearted and cold foolishness that, according to the gospels, led to John the Baptist’s death.

A new ramification was added by Oscar Wilde, who in his play Salome let her devolve into a necrophiliac, killed the same day as the man whose death she had requested.” [wiki]

Update: Tonight’s opera is presented in German, which my mother is familiar with but I’m afraid I only know a few key phrases that my Oma has been saying to me since I was little.

Update: I was just talking about how I was curious about the set for this opera when we were whisked away for a backstage tour with our gracious guide, Terry Harper (Director of Production).

The set for Salome looks fairly straightforward compared to the others this season, it’s a raked stage with a simple backdrop that will be lit with various primary colours to mimic a deep sky. I’m looking forward to seeing how it all lights up during the production.

We noticed rows of chairs backstage and Terry explained that it’s because the orchestra is 80 pieces (up from 60) so they needed to make some room. There’s a great time-lapse video of the orchestra setting up on the Vancouver Opera Blog.

Update: The tour also included an introduction to some of the props for the production… including John the Baptist’s head.

Update: We’ll be heading in shortly and since there is no intermission this time around my final thoughts and review will be posted much later tonight, once we’re back from the after-party.

Update:…