Strauss - Salome

Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra / Sir Georg Solti

Decca The Originals 475 7528DOR2 Buy now

(99’ · ADD · T/t)

Birgit Nilsson sop Salome; Eberhard Waechter bar Jokanaan; Gerhard Stolze ten Herod; Grace Hoffman mez Herodias; Waldemar Kmentt ten Narraboth; Josephine Veasey mez Page; Tom Krause bar First Nazarene; Nigel Douglas ten Second Nazarene; Zenon Koznowski bass First Soldier; Heinz Holecek bass Second Soldier; Theodore Kirschbichler bass Cappadocian 

Recorded 1961.

Solti’s Salome was one of Decca’s notable Sonic Stage successes and still beats most of its competitors in terms of sound alone. There’s a real sense here of a theatrical performance, as produced by John Culshaw, with an imaginative use of movement.

The vivid, nervous energy of Strauss has always been Solti’s territory, and this is an overwhelming account of Strauss’s sensual piece, sometimes a little too hard-hitting: there are places where the tension might be relaxed just a shade, but throughout, the VPO answers Solti’s extreme demands with its most aristocratic playing. With only a single break, the sense of mounting fever is felt all the more. Birgit Nilsson’s account of the title-role is another towering monument to her tireless singing. Here, more even than as Brünnhilde, one notices just how she could fine away her tone to a sweet and fully supported pianissimo, and her whole interpretation wants nothing of the erotic suggestiveness of sopranos more familiar with the role onstage. Gerhard Stolze’s Herod is properly wheedling, worried and, in the final resort, crazed, but there are times, particularly towards the end of his contribution, when exaggeration takes over from characterisation. Other interpretations show how effects can be created without distortion of the vocal line. Eberhard Waechter is an aggressive rather than a visionary Jokanaan. Grace Hoffman is a suitably gloating Herodias. Much better than any of these, Nilsson apart, is Waldemar Kmentt’s wonderfully ardent Narraboth. Hardly any of the rivals since 1961 has managed a true challenge to this simply outstanding recording.