Salome, princess of Judea, the daughter‑in‑law of King Herod, finds life in her father‑in‑law’s palace dreary. Her curiosity is roused when she hears the voice of Jochanaan, a prophet held prisoner by Herod who is afraid of him. Obsessed by this enigmatic and virtuous man, Salome is ready to do anything to possess him, dead or alive. Drawing on Oscar Wilde’s scandalous play of the same name, in 1905 Richard Strauss produced the work that was to ensure his status as Wagner’s successor in the history of German opera. A dazzling hour and forty minutes, decadent in its very essence, which, for her debut at the Paris Opera, Lydia Steier treats as a dystopia in which amorality rules.
After winning in battle, Commander Macbeth receives a prophesy that he will one day become King of Scotland. Influenced by the whisperings of his wife, he literally stops at nothing to fulfil the prophesy. But racked by guilt, the Macbeths soon sink into delusions and become victims of their own thirst for power. Anna Netrebko reprises her electrifying portrayal of Lady Macbeth opposite Plácido Domingo at the Berlin State Opera. Maestro Daniel Barenboim leads the opera icons along with the Staatsopernchor and Staatskapelle Berlin.