22.00 USD
Because Iokanaan would not allow Salomé to kiss his red lips, and scorned her as unclean, she persuaded her stepfather Herodias to kill him. Here, in the last scene of Antoine Mariotte's one act opera Salomé, the princess of Judea, driven mad with frustration, self hatred, and desire, fulfills her wish.
As Iokanaan prophesied, upon his death the moon has turned blood red, and in this scene, the darkened stage is flooded with red "moonlight" as Salomé sings to the head of Iokanaan of her love for him, while biting and kissing his lips. She describes the taste as bitter, and wonders if it is just the taste of blood, or if bitter is the taste of love. King Herodias comes upon the scene, and horrified (but also jealous, since his lust for his stepdaughter has been thwarted), demands that his guards kill Salomé, whom they immediately crush beneath their shields. The final curtain falls. Pretty darksome stuff, no? Well, it may not be Clive Barker, but certainly this gory scene horrified audiences of the day.
The opera's composer, Antoine Mariotte, was a naval officer (and a frustrated musician) serving aboard a ship in the far east when he first read Wilde's play and determined that he would put this story to music. Upon his return to France, he left the navy, and entered a conservatory of music, where he studied, and eventually became a professor, teaching piano. Then, after making arrangements with Oscar Wilde, and his publisher, Methuen, composed the opera.
Mariotte's Salomé is often considered the "French" Salomé. German composer, Richard Strauss, who was by far the better known composer, also wrote a version of the opera. Mariotte's is sometimes seen as being more psychologically intense, while Strauss's version is thought of as being more flamboyant and highly sexualized. We do love opera but our experience is limited, and we've never seen either of these, but Mariotte's is by far the more difficult to find. In fact, its premiere (with Mlle. De Wailly) in Lyon, was very nearly its "swan song," due to legal troubles with Strauss and his publisher, and complications with Oscar Wilde's estate.
Incidentally, Russian dancer Natalia Trouhanova appeared during the dance of seven veils in the Lyon performances!
This card presents an amazing image taken from what was certainly the most talked about scene in this opera. Oscar Wilde wrote the play upon which the opera was based in French, believing that the poetry of the piece best fit fin de siecle France!
Julien Francois Bioletto of Lyon, made the photographs for this series of cards. Unfortunately, we've found no history on him as of yet.
Please examine our high res scans for detail.
Postage is for first class shipping in a secure photo mailer, and we happily combine shipping on all paper goods. If you purchase two cards, we will refund the postage on the second card, and when you purchase three or more cards from us at the same time, your shipping will be entirely free, except for international orders which, because of sudden increases in international shipping rates will still be charged one card's shipping fees on orders of three or more.
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