THE METROPOLITAN OPERA

It is one of the defining features of live performance that it continues to surprise us. To be an informed listener and attend a concert or an opera without expectations is just about impossible—and those experiences that shatter expectations are often the most rewarding of all.

Patricia Racette provided just that kind of rare experience…

…Revivals like this one, featuring performances so fresh, don’t come around every week, or even every season—opera lovers would be wise to rush to the box office.

—New York Classical Review

Patricia Racette Descends into Insanity in Riveting Performance

Racette still has four more performances in the title role of Strauss’ early gem and it is highly recommended that anyone in the mood for an intense passionate night of great operatic singing, and especially acting, should make sure to catch one performance before the run is up.

—Opera Wire

In the Met’s current performances, Racette elegantly transforms Salome’s humiliation into one of glory. Her voice, more lyrical than that of a traditional Salome, allows her work to highlight the hubris that propels the character toward own her heart of darkness. Her dance of the seven veils especially impresses, in which the singer handles the demanding movement and resulting nudity with courage and skill.

This Salome burns bright. Perhaps too bright. Like Herod, one asks for the moon to darken, the torches to be put out. The glory of Salome is too much; we avert our eyes, as the curtain swoops down to block her from view.

--Parterre Box

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Conductor: Johannes Debus*

Production: Jürgen Flimm

Designer: Santo Loquasto

Lighting Design: James F. Ingalls

Choreographer.: Doug Varone

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Salome: Patricia Racette / Kirsten Chambers*

Herod: Gerhard Siegel

Herodias: Nancy Fabiola Herrera

Jochanaan: Zeljko Lucic

Narraboth: Kang Wang*

Page: .Carolyn Sproule

1st Jew: Allan Glassman

2nd Jew: Mark Schowalter

3rd Jew: Noah Baetge

4th Jew: Alex Richardson

5th Jew: David Crawford

1st Soldier: Nicholas Brownlee*

2nd Soldier: Richard Bernstein

Cappadocian: John Hancock

Slave: Kathryn Day

Executioner: Reginald Braithwaite

* = debut

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December 5, 9, 13, 17, 24, 28, 2016