CHICAGO (10/13/2025) — Lyric Opera of Chicago presents Richard Strauss’s explosive masterpiece
Salome, on stage January 25 – February 14, 2026. This gory operatic thrill ride returns to Lyric for the first time in 20 years, bringing Oscar Wilde’s scandalous tale of obsession and depravity to blazing life in one of opera’s most shocking and musically daring works.
Salome marks the North American premiere of
Sir David McVicar’s provocative production, set against the backdrop of 1930s fascist Italy. The demanding title role features
Elena Stikhina in her eagerly awaited Lyric debut, alongside Lyric favorites
Brandon Jovanovich and
Tanja Ariane Baumgartner as her demented parents, Herod and Herodias. Rising star
Nicholas Brownlee makes his Lyric debut as the object of Salome’s deadly affection, Jochanaan. Conductor
Tomáš Netopil, the new Chief Conductor and Music Director of the FOK - Prague Symphony Orchestra, makes his Lyric debut leading a supersized
Lyric Opera Orchestra through Strauss’s groundbreaking score.
Obsession turns fatal in this operatic powder keg. Based on Oscar Wilde’s one-act play,
Salome has been thrilling and shocking audiences for more than a century. Salome, the teenage stepdaughter of King Herod, becomes consumed by forbidden desire for the imprisoned prophet Jochanaan (John the Baptist), whose righteous rejection only fuels her dangerous infatuation. When Herod promises Salome anything she wants in exchange for performing the infamous "Dance of the Seven Veils," she demands a prize so shocking it leaves the royal court reeling in horror. Strauss’s lush, dissonant score matches the opera’s psychological intensity note for note, building to one of the most unsettling climaxes in all of opera. From the seductive dance to Salome’s shocking final kiss, this production pulses with deviance and debauchery gone horrifyingly wrong.
An acclaimed ensemble of operatic firepower. Soprano
Elena Stikhina, who makes her Lyric debut as Salome, is one of today’s leading dramatic sopranos and regularly performs some of the most challenging roles in the repertory. A soloist with the Mariinsky Theatre since 2017, Stikhina has thrilled audiences at the world’s most prestigious opera houses, including the Metropolitan Opera, Opéra national de Paris, Vienna State Opera, and the Salzburg Festival. Her debut as Salome at the Mariinsky in 2017 was a revelation, earning her national awards; she has since performed the role at Teatro alla Scala, Opernhaus Zürich, and other major houses. Her voice combines the power and endurance required for this Olympian role with a tender quality that captures Salome’s youth — a teenage girl consumed by a passion she cannot control.
Tenor
Brandon Jovanovich returns to Lyric as Herod, the conflicted king torn between desire and dread. His extensive history with Lyric includes celebrated performances as Gherman in Tchaikovsky’s
The Queen of Spades (2019/20), Siegmund in Wagner’s
Die Walküre (2017/18), Énée in Berlioz’s
Les Troyens (2016/17), the Prince in Sir David McVicar's production of
Rusalka (2013/14), and Bacchus and the Tenor in Strauss’s
Ariadne auf Naxos (2011/12), among others. Winner of the 2007 Richard Tucker Award, Jovanovich appears regularly at the Metropolitan Opera, where he has sung nearly 50 performances, as well as at leading opera houses including the Vienna State Opera, the Royal Ballet and Opera, the Bavarian State Opera, and the Salzburg Festival. His portrayal of Herod in
Salome showcases his remarkable ability to inhabit complex, psychologically demanding roles with incomparable vocal mastery.
Bass-baritone
Nicholas Brownlee makes his Lyric debut as Jochanaan, the prophet whose moral certainty proves no match for Salome’s obsession. Winner of the prestigious 2025 Richard Tucker Award, Brownlee is a first-prize winner of the Belvedere Singing Competition and a grand-prize winner of the Metropolitan Opera’s Laffont Competition. His commanding presence and rich tone have made him one of the most in-demand bass-baritones working today, with recent performances at the Bayreuth Festival, Bavarian State Opera, Oper Frankfurt, and the Met, among others. His international acclaim has been built on roles requiring both vocal power and dramatic depth — qualities essential for Jochanaan, whose unwavering faith seals his tragic fate.
Mezzo-soprano
Tanja Ariane Baumgartner returns to Lyric as Herodias, Salome’s scheming mother. Baumgartner made an indelible Wagnerian impression at Lyric as Fricka in both
Das Rheingold (2016/17) and
Die Walküre (2017/18). She has also sung Fricka at the Bayreuth Festival, as well as the Wagnerian roles of Kundry in
Parsifal, Ortrud in
Lohengrin, and Brangäne in
Tristan und Isolde at major opera houses worldwide. Her acclaimed Strauss performances as Klytämnestra in
Elektra and the Nurse in
Die Frau ohne Schatten at the Salzburg Festival have set the standard for these demanding roles; she brings formidable artistry to Herodias's calculating cruelty and maternal manipulation.
Tenor
Ryan Capozzo — an alumnus of Lyric’s renowned artist-development program, The Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center — sings the role of Narraboth. Past roles at Lyric include the Steersman in Wagner’s
Der fliegende Holländer (2023/24) and Remendado in Bizet’s
Carmen (2022/23). This season, he makes his debut at Seattle Opera as Don José in
Carmen and sings the Prince in Dvořák’s
Rusalka with Irish National Opera. In the 2024/25 season, he debuted as the Prince in
Rusalka at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, made his Metropolitan Opera debut singing the Voice of a Young Man in Strauss’s
Die Frau ohne Schatten, and sang the role of Albert in Janáček’s
The Makropulos Affair with Scottish Opera.
Supporting roles include mezzo-soprano
Catherine Martin as the Page; tenor
Bille Bruley in his Lyric debut as First Jew; current Ryan Opera Center Ensemble tenors
Travon D. Walker as Second Jew and
Daniel Luis Espinal as Third Jew; tenor
Zhengyi Bai in his Lyric debut as Fourth Jew; Ryan Opera Center bass-baritone
Benjamin R. Sokol in his Lyric debut as Fifth Jew; baritone
Aleksey Bogdanov in his Lyric debut as First Nazarene; Ryan Opera Center baritone
Sihao Hu in his Lyric debut as Second Nazarene; bass
Scott Conner in his Lyric debut as First Soldier; Ryan Opera Center bass-baritone
Christopher Humbert, Jr. as Second Soldier; Ryan Opera Center baritone
Sankara Harouna as a Cappadocian; and mezzo-soprano
Angela De Venuto as a Slave.
A conductor who commands Strauss’s sonic universe. Conductor
Tomáš Netopil makes his Lyric debut leading the
Lyric Opera Orchestra through Strauss’s revolutionary score. He is in his first season as the Chief Conductor and Music Director of the FOK - Prague Symphony Orchestra and was Principal Guest Conductor of the Czech Philharmonic from 2018 to 2024. Winner of the first Sir Georg Solti International Conductors’ Competition in 2002, Netopil served as General Music Director of the Aalto Musik Theater and Philharmonie Essen from 2013 to 2023, where his opera productions included many performances of
Salome. His interpretations bring stylistic authority and dramatic fire to Strauss’s demanding music, revealing both its sumptuous beauty and its capacity for violence.
A bold production calls for a master storyteller. Internationally acclaimed visionary
Sir David McVicar was the original director of this production, which is seen for the first time in North America in these performances. McVicar’s reimagining transposes the action to 1930s fascist Italy, shedding a harsh light on the timeless greed, entitlement, and moral corruption of the elite.
Salome marks McVicar’s eleventh opera with Lyric Opera of Chicago, continuing a collaboration that has produced some of the company’s most memorable productions, including Cherubini's
Medea earlier this season, Verdi’s
Don Carlos (2022/23) and
Macbeth (2021/22), and Strauss’s
Elektra (2018/19 and 2012/13).
A production that dazzles the eye and haunts the mind. The creative team of
Salome includes revival director
Julia Burbach in her Lyric debut, designer
Es Devlin in her Lyric debut, original lighting designer
Wolfgang Göbbel, revival lighting designer
Chris Maravich, video designer
59 Productions, choreographer
Andrew George, and revival choreographer
Emily Piercy in her Lyric debut.
When opera unleashes its darkest power. With a cast of world-class artists, innovative direction, and one of the most revolutionary scores ever written,
Salome delivers an operatic experience that shocks, seduces, and leaves audiences breathless. This is opera at its most dangerous — a tale of desire, power, and revenge set to music that changed the art form forever. From the first subversive notes to
Salome’s final, horrifying triumph, this production proves that some obsessions can turn deadly, and some experiences at the opera can never be forgotten.
Important to know:Performance dates: Six chances to see
Salome:
- Sunday, January 25, 2026 at 2 p.m.
- Thursday, January 29, 2026 at 7 p.m.
- Tuesday, February 3, 2026 at 7 p.m.
- Friday, February 6, 2026 at 7 p.m.
- Wednesday, February 11, 2026 at 2 p.m.
- Saturday, February 14, 2026 at 7:30 p.m.
Language: Sung in German, with easy-to-follow projected English titles above the stage.
Running time: Approximately 1 hour and 40 minutes; performed without intermission.
Salome Opera Insights: Join us on Saturday, January 24, 2026, at 2:00 p.m. as Dr. Justin Vickers moderates a lively discussion around the complex issues of
Salome. Dr. Vickers will be joined by Julia Burbach, Alison Maggart, and Dr. Jesse Rosenberg. This conversation will take place at the First United Methodist Church, the Chicago Temple, 77 W. Washington Street, Chicago. More information
here.
Pre-performance talks: Ticketholders are invited to a free pre-opera talk by noted opera scholar Roderick K. Hawkins on
Salome’s composition history and cultural context; the talks begin one hour before each performance on the theater’s Steiner Parquet (the main floor).
Accessibility: Audio description, a guided touch tour of the set, and SoundShirts are available at the Sunday, January 26 matinee performance. Braille and large-print programs, high-powered opera glasses, assistive listening devices, and booster seats are available from the theater’s Steiner Parquet coat checks at all performances. For more information on these and other accessibility assets, visit
lyricopera.org/accessibility.
Production history: North American premiere of a production by the Royal Ballet and Opera, first seen at the Royal Opera House, London, on February 21, 2008.
Location: Lyric Opera House, 20 N. Wacker Drive, Chicago, Illinois.
For more information and tickets, visit
lyricopera.org/salome or call 312.827.5600.
