Salome Grand Opera House, Belfast: A century on, Oscar Wilde's play still retains an overwhelming power

The recent rumblings of horror here in Belfast relating to a minor detail of Northern Ireland Opera's production of the eponymous opera by Richard Strauss say more about the time warp in which some people here live than anything particularly outrageous in the opera itself. Wilde was a homosexual and it was his lover Lord Alfred Douglas who translated Salome from the original French into English.

No doubt those facts alone would also unsettle the conscience of some of our compatriots. Strauss, as his own librettist, considerably pared down Wilde's play into a manageable length and cleverly distilled the salient themes of the drama.

The plot derives from the psychosexual interaction of nearly every character - the erotic perversity of Salome, the bloodthirsty vengefulness of her mother Herodias, the lustful weakness of the Tetrarch Herod, the blind infatuation of the soldier Narraboth, the uncompromising fundamentalism of John the Baptist.

Add to this already heady mixture the sensual, richly chromatic music of Strauss and you have the basis of a demanding 100 minutes for both performers and audience alike.

Northern Ireland Opera's production by Oliver Mears missed nothing in presenting the stark, often disturbing and unsettling nature of this opera. Although the translation in time and place from Palestine to the deep south of the US did not always seem totally logical, nonetheless there were many recognisable and pertinent points of contact with the original setting.

It was however the power of the voices, the dramatic characterisations, the sheer brilliance of the music which carried this performance along with increasing intensity as the opera sped towards its inevitable and monstrous climax.

Giselle Allen caught the contrasting innocence and evilness of Salome and her portrayal of the young girl in the final scene was mesmerising.

Robert Hayward as Jokanaan gave out the strong but slightly imbalanced mentality of the prophet, while Michael Colvin as Herod was completely convincing as the depraved and eventually disgusted king.

This arresting production proved beyond doubt that this opera still retains a tremendous power and an ability to overwhelm audiences with its stark display of what humans are capable of.

The second performance of Salome is on Sunday 8 February at Grand Opera House, Belfast

Five stars