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Richard Strauss, Salome: Soloists, Orchestra of Teatro Argentino. Conductor: Mario Perusso, Teatro Argentino, La Plata. 3.5.2009 (JSJ)

Director/sets/lighting: Roberto Oswald
Costumes: Anibal Lápiz

Cast:

Salome: Eiko Senda
Herodes: Carlos Bengolea
Herodias: Graciela Alperyn
Jochanaan: Homero Pérez Miranda
Narraboth: Enrique Folger
Page of Herodias: Alicia Cecotti
Jews: Sergio Spina, Christian Casaccio, Rubén Martínez, Gabriel Centeno, Fabián Veloz
Nazarenes: Federico Sanguinetti, Marcelo Puente
Soldiers: Oreste Chlopecki, Claudio Rotella
A Cappadocian: Víctor Castells
A slave: Vanesa Mautner

Eiko Senda (Salome) and Homero Pérez Miranda (Jochanaan)

The Teatro Argentino in the Buenos Aires provincial capital of La Plata offered Salome to open its 2009 season, bringing together veterans of the local opera world, both off and on stage, alongside the up and coming in an almost all Argentine production. With the team of Mario Perusso in the pit, the lighting of Anibal Lápiz and the direction of Roberto Oswald, the expectations were high for this new offering of this work, which has been performed little more than a handful of times locally since its first production in 1905.

And it did not disappoint, either visually or vocally. The scene was set on a raked stage, Romanesque in style, with the cistern centre stage, brightly – almost harshly – lit, so that the nuances of the drama were exposed and the viewer drawn into the action in a way that would not have been possible under softer and more variable lighting. Initially the music, powerfully played under the baton of Perusso, seemed on the slow side, but this served only to highlight the rich drama of the score. In any event at approximately 100 minutes the length was very average.

The title role was taken by the Brazil-based, Japanese soprano Eiko Senda, and while technically without reproach, both vocally, with a tendency to tail off at the ends of phrases, and dramatically she lacked sufficient intensity. In particular with the platter with Jochanaan’s head before her she conveyed no visual emotion, unless of course this was a demonstration of Salome’s unhinged psyche. However, her dance of the seven veils was suitably sensual, although it was marred by some awkward moments in releasing some of the veils but that appeared to be a choreographic issue.

The Jochanaan of Chilean Homero Pérez Miranda was a highlight, dark and distracted, and visually his appearance was striking, very much looking the part, the bearskin covering notwithstanding. The Herodes of Carlos Bengolea, in an opulently coloured outfit was also striking while Graciela Alperyn as Herodias more than made up vocally for the simplicity of her outfit in comparison.

The other roles were all well sung, notably Enrique Folger’s Narraboth. And even if the shiny black pants of the guards were also incongruous, they only added to the work’s sexual overtones.

Jonathan Spencer Jones

Picture © Teatro Argentino, La Plata


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