By Inky Chang
Dancing the seductive Dance of the Seven Veils, Salome was promised anything she asked for. As soon as she finished her dance she asked for the head of John the Baptist. This story took place around 30 B.C. in Jerusalem. At that time Palestine was under the rule of a ruthless warlord, Herod, who became obsessed with the beautiful daughter of his brother’s widow, his own stepdaughter, Salome. Then into this kingdom of sin came a man righteous and true: the venerated prophet, John the Baptist. However, Salome’s mother despised John the Baptist because he dared to accuse her of adultery, so that she had the holy man imprisoned in the dungeon of the palace. One night, Salome happened to overhear John the Baptist’s voice, and fell immediately in love. With all her skill the Princess strove to seduce him, but John could not be moved. Shamed by his refusal, Salome’s affection changed into bitter hatred. Herod promised Salome that he would grant her anything she asked for, if only she would dance before his hungry eyes. The maddened princess agreed, and asked for John’s head in return. Herod was repulsed when he saw Salome kissing John’s severed head in a mad passion, and, in the end, she too was executed. “Salome” was made into an opera by Richard Strauss, based on a play by Oscar Wilde. The opera includes an enormous tapestry of musical instruments. It was first performed in Berlin and become one of the most often-performed operas in European theater. Strauss’s work is presented in the form of symphonic poems. Symphonic poems are based on symphonies, but there is only one movement. Strange notes played by clarinets begin the opera, and every character has his or her individual recurring melody. For example, the accompaniment for crazed Princess Salome is in C minor, which often brings gloomy feelings. On the other hand, in order to show John the Baptist’s pureness, Strauss uses a C major theme to suggest the overwhelming power of the prophet. The music for the Dance of the Seven Veils is especially well known, a masterpiece of human psychology and clear tonality. The Taipei Symphony Orchestra performed Salome this year from October 17th to 19th during the Taipei Music Festival. It was the first time that the Symphony performed the opera in its entirety, and it was also the first time for the opera to be presented in Taiwan. I was overwhelmed by the performance. Those living in Taipei are fortunate because we have a music festival every summer, which includes many different kind of performances–and, hopefully, great western operas like “Salome” will become a regular part of the lineup. a
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Authors
The Taida Student Journal has been active since 1995 with an ever-changing roster of student journalists at NTU. Click the above link to read about the authors Archives
May 2024
|