An introduction to Salome

In 1902 Strauss saw Austrian-born director Max Reinhardt’s production of Wilde’s Salome , although he was already considering giving it operatic treatment having been drawn to the play’s erotic and grotesque text. Originally written in French, Wilde based his play on the biblical tale of Salome and the beheading of John the Baptist.

The opera’s religious subtext made it hard to pass censorship

At the time the opera was written (and until 1968), all productions set for the British stage had to go through a process of censorship by the Lord Chamberlain’s office, before they could be publicly performed. Both the opera and the play had a hard time passing the censorship due, to the most-part, for the blasphemous use of Biblical characters. In fact, the ban on Oscar Wilde’s play wasn’t lifted for nearly 40 years.

The first London performance of Salome was finally put on in 1910, some 5 years after the opera’s premiere in Dresden, Germany. Read more about the controversy surrounding Salome, and other operas that shook society.

Kaiser Wilhelm once remarked that Salome would do Strauss a great deal of harm. This ‘harm’, Strauss noted in a diary, allowed him to build his lavish Villa Strauss in Garmisch, Bavaria.

Although Strauss lived and worked at the villa for the rest of his life, he was nearly evicted twice during the war (once by the Nazi’s and the second time by the Americans). Luckily for Strauss, his celebrity status allowed him to convince both parties to let him stay and live out the remainder of his days in peace.