What has astonished Steven Sloane most about conducting Salome in Hong Kong has been the keenness of the members of the Philharmonic to understand the drama of Strauss' opera.
The 38-year-old American said he was 'moved' at how many musicians took up his invitation to go to the piano dress rehearsal of the opera to see what would be happening on stage while they were working down in the dark pit.
'It was at short notice and in their own time, and at least a third of them turned up. I have never seen that before: it was extraordinary,' said Sloane.
The improvement was apparent at the rehearsals the following day. Perhaps the extraordinary thing was not that so many musicians turned up, but that it was not compulsory in every orchestra for all musicians to turn up to such a dress rehearsal if it helps the music so noticeably? Sloane laughed: 'It's just an old tradition. It's hard to get an orchestra to come to things where they are not taking an active part.' Orchestras are usually run as a business, and their accountants see the musicians' awareness of plot and drama as too much of a luxury to afford.
It is the first time Sloane has conducted Salome as a full-length opera. So putting together this tough, virtuosic, violent work was a learning experience for him as well as for most of the orchestra.
'It was great to discover a piece together.
