<\/p>\n
National Symphony Orchestra Ireland<\/strong> Gerald Barry<\/strong> Salome<\/em> (concert performance)\u00a0 [Irish Premiere]<\/p>\n Two renowned Irish wits reunite for Gerald Barry\u2019s \u2018surreal and fantastical\u2019 take on Oscar Wilde\u2019s Salome <\/em>in its Irish premiere with National Symphony Orchestra Ireland<\/strong> as part of New Music Dublin 2026.<\/p>\n Barry\u2019s subversive libretto, vivid orchestral writing and biting vocal lines treats Wilde\u2019s Biblical tragedy of corrupted sexual desire, power and grotesque beauty as thrilling, absurdist farce.<\/p>\n Barry describes Salome <\/em>as \u2018an opera of voyeurism, the moon, french, God, punishment of sin, misunderstanding, sex, the metronome, suicide, hysteria, hunger, blood, typing, speaking correctly, sterility, The Blue Danube, the wind, fever, art, Wilde, dreaming, beheading, Frankenstein, kissing\u2019.\u00a0<\/p>\n Presented as part of New Music Dublin Festival, this unmissable concert performance features the world premiere cast including Alison Scherzer<\/strong>, \u2018ideal as a brittle, unflinching Salome\u2019 (Opera Now<\/em>), and the \u2018captivating\u2019 (Arts Review<\/em>) Amy N\u00ed Fhearraigh<\/strong> as the Queen. J\u00e9r\u00f4me Kuhn <\/strong>again conducts with \u2018energy and precision\u2019 (Classica<\/em>).<\/p>\n Salome <\/em>is Barry\u2019s second setting of Wilde, following the widely acclaimed The Importance of Being Earnest<\/em>. It also belongs to the fantastical world of Alice\u2019s Adventures Under Ground<\/em>, his imaginative take on the Lewis Carroll classic and shares its \u2018same wit and subversion\u2026 madness, ecstasy, humour and murder\u2019.<\/p>\n Reviewing Salome\u2019s 2025 world premiere, Gramophone <\/em>noted: \u2018Barry\u2019s distinctive, high-energy musical language transforms [Wilde\u2019s] dark and scandalous drama into a whirlwind of absurdity, sharp wit, and gripping intensity\u2019.<\/p>\n Opera Now described it as \u2018a surreally decadent, absurdist world\u2026 it\u2019s certainly a riot\u2019.<\/p>\n
J\u00e9r\u00f4me Kuhn<\/strong>, conductor
Alison Scherzer<\/strong>, Salome
Amy N\u00ed Fhearraigh<\/strong>, The Queen
Timur<\/strong>, The King
Vincent Casagrande<\/strong>, The Prisoner
Stefan Sevenich<\/strong>, The Young Syrian
David Howes<\/strong>, Soldier<\/p>\n