Although the fact that John the Baptist was the Forerunner of Jesus does not necessarily make Richard Strauss’s Salome a Christmas spectacle, the concertante performance given on December 23, 2025, in front of the large Christmas trees in the Christos Lambrakis Hall, was nonetheless a wonderful Christmas gift from the Athens State Orchestra to music lovers.
The performance was conducted by the artistic director of the ASO, Loukas Karytinos, proving that he remains a leading opera conductor. Balancing symbolic refinement and expressionistic violence, he delivered a captivating interpretation, absolutely dramatic, with attention to detail in the score, and highlighting the voices.
The cast was superb. In the title role, Russian Elena Stikhina, in absolute vocal prime, crafted a performance worthy of a full staging, with all the emotional shifts of the young heroine. As Herod, Austrian Wolfgang Ablinger-Sperrhacke was truly anthological, an authentic “charakter-tenor” (character tenor, a voice ideal for demanding “villain” roles in opera with a somewhat comical, clearly non-heroic dimension), conveying all the power and weakness of the depraved monarch. The stentorian Jokanaan (John) of baritone Dimitris Tiliakos was less the ethereal spiritual man in captivity and more the rugged hermit who came to denounce luxury and licentiousness.
Wonderful expressionistic anguish characterized Vassilis Kavayas’s Narraboth, while Nefeli Kotseli’s rich, sensual voice embodied an Attendant full of femininity, and a great dialogue between the two. Perfectly synchronized and very lively was the quintet of Jews (Vassilis Kavayas, Andreas Karaoulis, Giannis Filias, Dionysis Melogiannidis, Dionysis Tsantinis), and also very good were the smaller roles (Giannis Selitsaniotis, Alexandros Loutas), not to mention the momentary contribution of the orchestra as a “rabble.”
Katerina Oikonomou, a Grand Dame of lyrical singing, for whom the title role of Salome marked the beginning of a successful international career in the mid-1980s, delivered a masterclass in style as Herodias, mainly thanks to her long experience, despite limited vocal comfort.
It would have been desirable for a dancer to have been foreseen for the Dance of the Seven Veils, as the purely orchestral rendition of this well-known excerpt, within the framework of this exquisitely melodramatic evening, momentarily shifted attention to some minor timbral imperfections of the otherwise exemplary orchestra. Finally, we must not omit the contribution of Dimitris Giakas to the musical preparation, as well as that of assistant conductor Myrsini Hatzikonstanti.
