Richard Strauss' masterful take on the Oscar Wilde play.
In the Roman-occupied Levant, Herod Antipas, the Tetrarch of Galilee and Perea, has John the Baptist captured and imprisoned in the underground cistern in the terrace of his royal palace. Herod lusts after his wife Herodias' daughter, Salome, the young princess of Judea. Salome flees the banquet table at the palace to get away from Herod's lustful glances. Once on the terrace, upon hearing the booming voice of John the Baptist coming from the cistern, fulminating against her mother, she becomes curious and uses her influence on Narraboth, the young captain of the guard who is infatuated with her, to get the guards to bring John out of the cistern. She is instantly smitten with him, but he rejects her as the daughter of Herodias, whom he condemns as an unworthy woman. Herod comes out on the terrace and tries to entice Salome to eat and drink with him, but she refuses. Eventually he begs her to dance for him and offers whatever she wants in return. She dances for him and, as her reward, asks for the head of Jochanaan on a silver platter.
A fully staged production, with orchestra, sets, sumptuous period costumes and a top-notch cast headlined by Joanna Parisi in the title role, Nathaniel Sullivan as Jochanaan, and Alex Boyer as Herod.