On Sunday, April 13th 2025, at 6:00 p.m., the curtain rises on the 87th edition of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Festival.

In the Main Hall “Salome” by Richard Strauss.

On the podium, leading the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Orchestra, maestro Alexander Soddy; the direction is by Emma Dante.

In the role of Salome, the Florentine debut of soprano Lidia Fridman.

The performance of April 13 will be broadcast live on Rai Radio3 and deferred on television on Rai 5 (9:15 p.m.)

Thanks to Ferragamo for their support

Firenze, 8 aprile 2025 – The curtain rises on the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Festival, which this year reaches its 87th edition. Scheduled for Sunday, April 13th, 2025 at 6:00 pm, in the Main Hall of the Theater, one of the great masterpieces of the 20th century, which returns to the Maggio scenes 15 years after its last performance, Richard Strauss's Salome. Three more performances are scheduled on the program: April 16th and 23rd at 8:00 pm and April 27th at 3:30 pm.

On the podium, leading the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Orchestra, maestro Alexander Soddy, making his debut at the Theater. The show is directed by Emma Dante, also making her debut at the Maggio. Another Florentine debut is marked by soprano Lidia Fridman who has taken over the singing company from the previously announced Allison Oakes who was forced to leave the production due to illness. The vocal cast includes the voices of Nikolai Schukoff who plays Herodes; Anna Maria Chiuri who plays Herodias and Brian Mulligan who plays Jochanaan. Eric Fennell is Narraboth; Marvic Monreal is Ein Page der Herodias; the Five Jews are Arnold Bezuyen, Mathias Frey, Patrick Vogel, Martin Piskorski and Karl Huml. The Two Nazarenes are played by William Hernandez and Yaozhou Hou (the latter also plays the role of a slave); Frederic Jost and Karl Huml again are Two Soldiers while Davide Sodini closes the opera cast in the role of A Man from Cappadocia.

The scenes of this new production are by Carmine Maringola, the costumes are by Vanessa Sannino, the lights by Luigi Biondi and the choreography by Silvia Giuffrè. The opera poster is by Gianluigi Toccafondo.

Among the most famous compositions by Richard Strauss, Salome debuted in December 1905 at the Semperoper in Dresden and was greeted with a resounding success that guaranteed its author fame and honors. The literary source was the homonymous drama Salome by Oscar Wilde that the composer chose to set to music in the German translation by Hedwig Bachmann. During the Maggio seasons, Strauss's opera was performed a total of six times starting from the first performance in Florence in 1948 in the Italian version. The second occasion dates back to 1964 at Teatro Comunale, for the third time the chronology fixes the historical one to 1977 with Zubin Mehta conducting; the fourth occasion is in 1991 performed in concert form, the fifth time Salome was staged in 1994 with Mehta on the podium and Luc Bondy directing, and the last occasion before this inauguration is in 2010 with Ralf Weikert (who took over from Paolo Carignani on the podium) conducting and Robert Carsen directing.

Alexander Soddy, who will also be performing a symphonic concert on April 26th in Sala Mehta with a program entirely dedicated to Strauss’s compositions, stressed his joy in making his debut at the Maggio on the occasion of the operatic inauguration of the Festival: “I am incredibly honored and happy to be making my debut here at the Maggio Musicale; a place that I love for its history, especially the last thirty years with the incredible work of Zubin Mehta as principal conductor: this can be perceived through the quality and experience of the musicians. It is my debut here in Florence and being able to do so conducting an opera that I feel particularly close to me makes all this even more special: I have been tied to it for almost twenty years, starting to interpret it as an accompanying pianist at the beginning of my career. I have subsequently conducted it many times; it is truly a composition that I am very attached to and with which, moreover, I debuted at Covent Garden. I know the challenges it contains and I say challenges because it is one of Strauss’s first works, who writes in a unique way. really challenging. He composes in a youthful way, excited by all the opportunities he has. This can obviously be risky because there are singers on stage who have to be able to overpower the sound of a huge orchestra. Another challenge in this opera is related to the fact that, as a conductor, I have to be musically flexible, passionate and powerful but at the same time able to keep the orchestra as compact and light as possible so that the singers can overpower it: my goal is also partly to tame the beast, that is, this huge ensemble foreseen in Strauss's work. The cast is fabulous, the understanding with Lidia Fridman was immediate, with great experience and knowledge of this type of music; and in addition, as I said, I have the great opportunity to work with this Orchestra: they don't play this kind of music very often but they have an extraordinary knowledge of sound, I heard it immediately and this is really stimulating. I can feel the work they have done over the years with Zubin Mehta and how much he has managed to convey, from the power of sound to discipline. I am thrilled to accompany them on this journey and to be able to do so with a work that is not performed very often.”

Speaking about this production, Emma Dante highlighted its dreamlike features and how her interpretation of the work led her to imagine the story as a real journey through a dream – or rather, a nightmare – capable of taking the audience to another dimension: “When I arrived at the Maggio, it almost seemed like I was setting foot on a real ‘spaceship’ and this was already very significant, both in the work done with the artists and for the visual spectacle that was born in these weeks. Salome is certainly a particular opera, with features and aspects that we could almost define as “absurd”, a complex work that I interpreted as the crossing of a real nightmare: it is as if everyone, in the short time of the duration of the work, entered the head and vision of the prophet Jochanaan and Salome herself. The main idea of ​​this production is therefore the journey through the dream and the nightmare inside the mind of this man, Jochanaan. The music itself is equally unique, as well as splendid, and it also seems to have been written to take the audience to another dimension, a dimension where the sentimental but at the same time cruel characteristics of this Straussian masterpiece can be outlined”.

“With great emotion and a sense of responsibility, I “jump” into this production of Salome at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino for the opening of the 87th Festival” - says Lidia Fridman who plays the part of Salome - An immense honor to be part of such a special occasion. With Salome it is always a challenge, adrenaline-filled and all-encompassing. Debuting at the Maggio with this title, and on such a special occasion as the opening of the Festival, is a source of great joy for me, even if completely unexpected. Although the time available is limited, with the humility of someone who enters unexpectedly and the determination of someone who deeply loves this role, I will do my best to honor this masterpiece, which I have studied for a long time and kept inside me. I would like to thank the Management of the Theater, maestro Soddy, the director Emma Dante and all my colleagues for their support and trust”.