Organization

Conductor

Jakub Hrůša

Singer

Soprano

Jennifer Davis

Salome

Southbank Centre

Orchestra

Philharmonia Orchestra

Dances of Death & Desire: Dvořák, Bartók & Strauss

London

United Kingdom

Royal Festival Hall

Dances of Death & Desire: Dvořák, Bartók & Strauss: The Golden Spinning Wheel, op.109 (+2 More)

Public

The Golden Spinning Wheel Op.109,B. 197

The Miraculous Mandarin Suite

Approved

South Bank Centre

In tonight’s scandalous programme, the Philharmonia Orchestra demonstrates music’s power to seduce, to disturb, and to shock.

Overcome by lust, King Herod has promised his stepdaughter Salome anything she desires if she will dance for him.

She agrees, and at her mother’s behest, demands the head of Herod’s prisoner, the prophet John the Baptist.

Strauss deploys a huge orchestra to create overwhelming waves of sound – erotic, powerful and violent.

Irish soprano Jennifer Davis, in the title role, is a graduate of the Royal Opera’s Jette Parker Young Artists Programme.

The premiere of Bartók’s ballet The Miraculous Mandarin caused an uproar. It’s a lurid tale of prostitution, fraud, theft and murder, with a glowing ghost thrown in for good measure.

In Dvořák’s The Golden Spinning Wheel, a mother and daughter conspire to murder, and dismember their victim’s body.

Despite the gory storyline, Dvořák’s music offers us bucolic scenes, a graceful recurring theme representing the magic spinning wheel that betrays the murderers, and a glorious happily-ever-after ending.

English

Performance credits (Cast & Crew )

Ensemble

Co-Producer