October 22, 2009
‘Salome’ at San Francisco Opera
Worlds ruled by the moon . . .
When the scrim, which is like a sheer veil before the audience’s gaze, rises what is thrown into sharp relief is a severe world of bronze-colored walls at the center of which is a huge black disc. Behind that new moon disc is the cistern in which the prophet Jokanaan is held prisoner. The mouth of the cistern opens and closes like the lens of an eye. To the audience’s left...