In This Battle of Salomes, It’s No Contest

RICHARD STRAUSS: “Salome,” with Cheryl Studer, Horst Hiestermann, Bryn Terfel, Leonie Rysanek, others; Berlin Opera Orchestra, Giuseppe Sinopoli, conducting. Deutsche Grammophon 431 810-2. STRAUSS: “Salome,” with Eva Marton, Heinz Zednik, Bernd Weikl, Brigitte Fassbaender, others; Berlin Philharmonic, Zubin Mehta, conducting. Sony Classical S2K 46717.

When the chips are down, a performance of “Salome” is a performance by Salome. This is not to slight the importance of the conductor or some of the crucial supporting singers, but without a protagonist to rivet attention the opera becomes an empty shell.

There is no contest in these two releases. Not since Ljuba Welitsch has there been a Judean Princess on records with the vocal purity or neurotic intensity of Studer (who, incidentally, has not yet attempted the role on the stage). She may lack the ultimate power her predecessor had for the biggest climaxes, but she compensates with sensitive lyricism and attention to detail.

Witness the sprinkling of coloratura writing, usually ignored, each note dead center on pitch. The color changes that Studer brings in the repeated demands for the Prophet’s head, the almost indecent abandon of “Ah Jochanaan, du warst schon”--these attest to the finished work of a major artist.

Sinopoli gets sumptuous playing from his forces; he merges the lyric portions with the raging drama of the climaxes for an end result that is shattering. Terfel, sounding like a young George London, with the same richness of voice and aristocratic phrasing, is a splendid Prophet. Rysanek, formerly a Salome of good repute, delivers a venomous Herodias, and the others are almost all properly in place. The only major cavil involves the barking of Hiestermann as Herodes.

Marton, by contrast, provides a Salome almost completely without subtlety or nuance. It is a vulgar, raucous performance, ranted rather than sung and afflicted with an awful wobble. Mehta, her conductor, plows through the score in much the same vein. A pity, since Zednik actually sings more of Herod’s music than we usually hear, and the rest of the cast is first-rate. Excellent sound in both cases with a bit closer miking of the voices on Sony.