In conversation: Sex, Blood and Power

Andreas Konrad sings the role of Herod in the opera Salome, which currently runs in the Sydney Opera House. Anyone who imagines dusty backdrops and stock-tight singers when they think of Opera, however, has to think again. This production by Gale Edwards is an extravagant stage show featuring world-famous singers, Richard Strauss's highly emotional music, almost excessive costumes, blood-dripping stage design and even professional dancers.

Andreas Conrad as Herod and Dancer Sophie Holloway and in Opera Australia's 2019 production of Salome at the Sydney Opera House Source: Prudence Upton

The tenor Andreas Conrad is a guest in Australia, not for the first time - he travels the world all the time and has performed with the superstar soprano Lise Lindstrom, who sings the role of Salome, and Jacqueline Dark, his wife, the evil queen Herodias, more than once before. That might be part of the reasons for the  artistic cooperation running so well.

 

The plot:

Salome is a bible story, interpreted by Oskar Wilde in 1891 as a drama and then by Strauss in 1905 as an opera. Salome is a seductive young woman who always gets what she wants, because she is desired by all. Only Jochanaan (John the Baptist) rejects her. And that is why she demands Jochanaan's head in exchange for giving in to the advances of her stepfather, King Herod.