After the resounding success with Verdi’s Falstaff (Dutch National Opera, 2014) the Concertgebouw Orchestra and Daniele Gatti once again proved their operatic prowess at DNO in Richard Strauss’s Salome, a work which caused a sensation in 1905. The libretto was dark and bold, the music modern and the Dance of the Seven Veils too provocative for the bourgeois audiences of Vienna. Never before had the decadent Zeitgeist been rendered musically in such a confrontational way. Composers from various countries flocked to attend the premiere, and Strauss lived up to their high expectations. To this day, the work possesses formidable power, thanks to the demanding leading role: in this production spectacularly sung ánd acted by Malin Byström. "If you were going to see just one Salome in your life, this would be a good choice" ***** Shirley, Apthorp, Financial Times "What a magma of sound!" ***** Merlijn Kerkhof, Volkskrant "The level of precision and the way Gatti gradually increases the tension is almost unbearable… The effect is overwhelming and leaves the listener breathless." ***** Peter van der Lint, Trouw