Alejo Pérez conducted six performances in Antwerp and five more in Ghent in December and January. Under the direction of Ersan Mondtag, Strauss' scandalous opera based on Oskar Wilde's text becomes a political thriller that suggests parallels between the historical Herod and contemporary dictators.
The production can be streamed on the Operavision platform from 7 February.
The press was enthusiastic about Alejo Pérez's interpretation, as Opernwelt magazine wrote about him: "He succeeds in moulding Strauss's score transparently despite its massiveness. Where the opera goes off the rails (...), Alejo Pérez also allows the musicians of the Symfonisch Orkest to let off steam with vigour and delight. But in between, the musical partners repeatedly find a rhetorically well-founded, distinct chamber tone and transform the virile, lush musical text into filigree, finely-nerved eloquence."
Since September 2019, Alejo Pérez has been shaping the sound culture of Opera Vlaanderen as its music director; with new productions such as Pelléas et Mélisande, Lohengrin, Don Carlos, Tristan und Isolde and La Clemenza di Tito, he has set strong accents there.
In the current season, the conductor can be seen in Flanders with three masterpieces of operatic literature: In addition to Salome, Wozzeck is also on the programme in a new production staged by Johan Simons, as well as concert performances of Norma.
Opera Ballet Vlaanderen
