Salome

opera by Strauss

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July 13, 2026

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Richard Strauss's opera Salome is a one-act work based on Oscar Wilde's play of the same name. The opera premiered in 1905 and tells the biblical story of Salome, stepdaughter of Herod Antipas. In the opera, Herod is depicted as lusting after Salome, while Salome desires John the Baptist. When John spurns her, Salome, prompted by her mother, demands his head on a platter. The opera is known for its intense portrayal of Salome's desires and the depravity of Herod's court. A famous scene is Salome's "Dance of the Seven Veils".12

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Richard Strauss
Life
…his first operatic success with Salome, based on Oscar Wilde’s play. Although Salome was regarded by some as blasphemous and obscene, it triumphed in all the major opera houses except Vienna, where the censor forbade Gustav Mahler to stage it.
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…his first operatic success with Salome, based on Oscar Wilde’s play. Although Salome was regarded by some as blasphemous and obscene, it triumphed in all the major opera houses except Vienna, where the censor forbade Gustav Mahler to stage it.
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opera
Later opera in Germany and Austria
…both shocking in their time: Salome (1905; libretto taken from Oscar Wilde’s drama, translated into German by Hedwig Lachmann) and Elektra (1909). With the latter work Strauss began a long and fruitful association with the poet and dramatist Hugo von Hofmannsthal as his librettist. Couched in a powerful harmonic idiom,…
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…both shocking in their time: Salome (1905; libretto taken from Oscar Wilde’s drama, translated into German by Hedwig Lachmann) and Elektra (1909). With the latter work Strauss began a long and fruitful association with the poet and dramatist Hugo von Hofmannsthal as his librettist. Couched in a powerful harmonic idiom,…
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Mary Garden
…in November 1907; Richard Strauss’s Salomé, in which she created a sensation; Henri Février’s Monna Vanna; and Italo Montemezzi’s L’amore dei tre re. She was acclaimed not only for her brilliant and highly individual singing but also for her remarkable dramatic ability. She joined the Chicago Civic Opera in 1910…
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…in November 1907; Richard Strauss’s Salomé, in which she created a sensation; Henri Février’s Monna Vanna; and Italo Montemezzi’s L’amore dei tre re. She was acclaimed not only for her brilliant and highly individual singing but also for her remarkable dramatic ability. She joined the Chicago Civic Opera in 1910…
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