On Sunday, May 26 we held our final Opera Connect event of the season: Salome: Two Perspectives. In Cinema 3 of the TIFF Bell Lightbox, an international audience listened to, and watched, a fascinating trans-Atlantic discussion about Richard Strauss’s opera Salome.

CBC Radio’s Brent Bambury was on hand to interview celebrated Canadian filmmaker and director Atom Egoyan, who staged the COC’s production of Salome this spring. Participating from Oslo via live video-link was Norwegian stage director Stefan Herheim, whose own take on the opera is being mounted by the Norwegian National Opera & Ballet from May 25 to June 23. The directors were joined by opera scholars Hedda Høgåsen-Hallesby (University of Oslo) and David Levin (University of Chicago).

Here are some highlights from the 2 hour event:

• Hedda Høgåsen-Hallesby’s confession of her love affair with Salome!
• Atom Egoyan’s reflection that in re-visiting his production for the third time, he’s a different person today than he was in 1996 when the staging was new.
• Stefan Herheim’s expert summation of his incredibly complex, wide-ranging influences: everything from Marilyn Monroe to Broadway to Sci-Fi.
• Two great directors sharing their ideas about Salome …because they could!

Missed the event? You can stream the video here:

The Canadian and Norwegian hosts and organizers of the event pose for a photo before the event begins.

Photos: (top) Video screenshot of CBC Radio's Brent Bambury and director of the COC's 2013 production of Salome, Atom Egoyan; (bottom) Onstage: Brent Bambury (CBC Radio), Katherine Semcesen (Associate Director, Education and Outreach, COC), Gianmarco Segato (Adult Programs Manager, COC); on screen: David Levin (University of Chicago), Hedda Høgåsen-Hallesby (University of Oslo) and Maria af Klinteberg Herresthal (Head of Education and Outreach, Norwegian National Opera & Ballet).