Lyric Opera 2025-2026 Issue 8 - Salome

9 | Lyric Opera of Chicago For more than a century, sopranos (and music critics) have been haunted by Strauss’s seemingly impossible combination of requirements for his ideal Salome: “A sixteen-year-old princess with the voice of Isolde.” The Salome libretto, devised by Strauss from a German translation of Oscar Wilde’s extravagantly flowery French text, immediately establishes the girl’s youth and loveliness with Narraboth’s opening exclamation, “Wie schön ist die Prinzessin Salome heute Nacht!” Unlike Wilde’s play, the opera libretto omits specific reference to the figurative loss of Salome’s virginity, but the implications of Strauss’s violently colored score are inescapable as the composer charts Salome’s life-changing journey from an innocent to a woman consumed by titanic lust. Strauss expresses the complicated inner life of Salome with vocal requirements as challenging as any in the repertoire. In order to achieve the full impact of the opera’s punishing final scene, Salome must sound fresh, eager, and uncalculating as she meets the crashing, demonic power of Strauss’s orchestra: If Salome snarls her way through the scene, in the manner of a villainous schemer, the opera’s macabre spell is broken. Princesses of the Past By F. Paul Driscoll The title role in Salome is demanding in every respect — and since the work’s premiere, she has been sung by legendary sopranos, including many incandescent performances at Lyric. Deborah Voigt’s performance in the 2006/07 Season at Lyric was a legendary success. Dan Rest