The two closely related powerful women, whose graves now lie right beside each other in London’s Westminster Abbey, were “Of One Blood”, so of the same blood. Both were of course as conceivably far apart as possible during their lives. Elizabeth I ruled for almost half a century as Queen of England and Ireland, while Mary Stuart reigned over Scotland for a quarter of a century. A bitter power struggle between the Protestant hegemony and the Catholic opposition and ultimately the pressure of parliament forced the English Queen to have Mary Stuart executed.

Of One Blood

Max-Joseph-Platz

Scylla lives withdrawn into herself, as if in emotional hibernation. Reason, peace, and harmony reign in her cosmos. When Glaucus enters her life, everything changes: She experiences love in all its colors and facets – and does not recognize herself. The opera describes all the lust, wildness, panic, and despair that the young woman experiences as she rediscovers the world for herself. In the end, she will be someone else. Jean-Marie Leclair's rarely performed only opera is a musical discovery. Director Claus Guth returns to Opernhaus Zürich with this new production.

Scylla and Glaucus

Zurich Opera House

Elderly King Mitridate wants to marry again, but suspects his sons might dispute his right to his beloved Aspasia and the throne. He therefore spreads the rumour that he died in battle after being defeated by the Romans. Sure enough, his older son Farnace starts pressurising his father’s young intended bride to marry him. But Aspasia secretly loves Sifare, his younger brother, who she asks to protect her from Farnace’s advances. The King of Pontus, believed to be dead, returns in the company of Irene, whom Farnace once promised to marry. Everyone starts eyeing each up other suspiciously. Farnace, in league with the Romans, plots against his father while Sifare und Aspasia are torn between their love for one another and loyalty to Mitridate. Left at the mercy of the King’s jealousy, their desperation brings them close to death.

EPSG:4326

Mitridate, Re di Ponto

Oper Frankfurt

Met Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin takes the podium on May 17 to conduct Strauss’s one-act tragedy, which will be transmitted live from the Metropolitan Opera stage to cinemas worldwide. Leading the company’s first new production of the work in 20 years, Claus Guth, one of Europe’s leading opera directors, gives the biblical story a psychologically perceptive Victorian-era setting. South African soprano Elza van den Heever leads a celebrated cast as the abused and unhinged antiheroine, with Swedish baritone Peter Mattei as the imprisoned prophet Jochanaan; German tenor Gerhard Siegel as Salome’s lecherous stepfather, King Herod; American mezzo-soprano Michelle DeYoung as his wife, Herodias; and Polish tenor Piotr Buszewski as Narraboth.

Salome

Shalin Liu Performance Center

Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts his first Met performances of Strauss’s white-hot one-act tragedy, which receives its first new production at the company in 20 years. Claus Guth, one of Europe’s leading opera directors, gives the biblical story—already filtered through the beautiful and strange imagination of Oscar Wilde’s play—a psychologically perceptive Victorian-era setting rich in symbolism and subtle shades of darkness and light. Headlining the new staging is soprano Elza van den Heever as the abused and unhinged antiheroine, who demands the head of Jochanaan, sung by celebrated baritone Peter Mattei. Tenor Gerhard Siegel is Salome’s lecherous stepfather, King Herod, with mezzo-soprano Michelle DeYoung as his wife, Herodias, and tenor Piotr Buszewski as Narraboth. Derrick Inouye conducts two performances in May.

Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts

Long after the Paris world premiere in 1896 Oscar Wilde’s tragedy “Salomé” remained a thorn in the flesh of the establishment across Europe. In Wilhelminian Germany and the Danube Monarchy, too, official art adjudicators considered the subject “repulsive” and the text “an insult to morality”. In the minds of the guardians of public morals the New Testament story of Herod’s daughter was as ill-suited to the stage as it was to pictorial representation, which was experiencing a boom at the time. Salomé’s stepfather, Herod, the Roman’s client king of Judea, Galilee and Samaria who is said to have ordered the massacre of the innocents around Bethlehem, persuades her to dance for him. Encouraged by her mother, she demands to be given the head of John the Baptist as a reward.

Deutsche Oper Berlin

Mithridates, King of Pontus

San Carlo Theatre

The Dresden premiere of Richard Strauss’s Salome in 1905 was a shock to the public. As the basis for the libretto, the composer used Oscar Wilde’s play, which had already been banned in a few countries. The playwright drew inspiration from a brief biblical passage about Herod’s step-daughter. Wilde not only gave her a name but made her a fully-fledged character. Salome's appeal is irresistible to the entire court, including her stepfather. There is, however, one person who remains unmoved by her charms: the prophet Jochanaan, who is being held captive by Herod. Salome does not give up. When she fails to win Jochanaan’s favour, she resolves to achieve her goal by other means. Through the Dance of the Seven Veils, she manages to persuade Herod to grant her wish: the prophet’s head, served on a platter. She triumphs, kissing Jochanaan's dead lips, yet she will have to pay the ultimate price for her victory.

Teatr Wielki - Polish National Opera

For only he who solves the princess's three riddles can become her bridegroom. Anyone who fails will be executed - like all previous suitors. Calaf's father Timur and Liù, whom Calaf loves without his knowledge, summon him in vain. He accepts the challenge.

Turandot

Vienna State Opera

Oscar Wilde’s drama about the biblical princess who has the prophet Jochanaan beheaded so she can kiss his dead mouth unfolds a tableau of human depravity: From murder and necrophilia to sexualised violence, one shocking moment follows another. But it was not only these themes that made Strauss’s Salome a scandal, but also its radically modern, overwhelming music, which was far ahead of its time. The «Faust» Prize winner Claus Guth incorporates insights from psychoanalysis, which emerged around the time of the 1905 premiere, into his production and delves into Salome’s subconscious: Younger versions of her Self accompany Salome like shadows of past wounds, together struggling to cope with childhood traumas. In a stage design that maintains the illusion of a flawless facade, reality, dream and memory begin to blur – the path from victim to perpetrator seems inevitable. Marc Albrecht conducts, and Elisabeth Strid will be performing Barrie Kosky’s new London Brünnhilde as Salome for the first time.

Sommer Ulrickson

Events

Upcoming events

Sep 24 - Oct 1, 2026

Mithridates, King of Pontus · Teatro di San Carlo

Nov 22 - Dec 13, 2026

Salome · Polish National Opera

10 - 23 Feb, 2027

Turandot · Wiener Staatsoper

Apr 17 - May 4, 2027

Salome · Deutsche Oper Berlin

Past events

May 10 - Jun 29, 2026

Of One Blood · Bayerische Staatsoper

Mar 27 - May 2, 2026

Scylla and Glaucus · Opernhaus Zürich

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