Cincinnati Opera opens its 2026 Summer Festival with Richard Strauss’s psychological thriller

There will be no silent start to Cincinnati Opera’s summer season this year. 

Richard Strauss’s Salome will come to Cincinnati Music Hall June 18 and 20, bringing the modern classic back to the Queen City for the first time in more than 25 years. Based on Oscar Wilde’s play, the opera follows Salome, the teenage princess of Judea, as her fixation on the imprisoned prophet Jochanaan turns into a psychologically thrilling infatuation. 

Katie Syroney, Cincinnati Opera’s director of Communications, describes the production as “a fever dream of obsession, power and prophecy.” While an intense way to begin the company’s summer season, Salome sets the tone for a summer of daring productions. 

The production stars soprano Kathryn Lewek as Salome in her title role debut. Lewek, called the Metropolitan Opera’s “reigning Queen of the Night” by The New York Times, leads a cast that also includes Chad Shelton as Herod, Alfred Walker as Jochanaan, Michelle DeYoung as Herodias and Zach Borichevsky as Narraboth. 

Robert Spano will conduct the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, with Jose Maria Condemi directing. The opera will be sung in German with projected English translations. 

Syroney writes that in Salome, “every glance is loaded, and no desire is without cost.” She describes Salome’s desire as something that “curdles into obsession,” leading to a “gruesome reward” at Herod’s birthday feast. Jealousy, prophecy and violence push the opera toward an opening season that is hard to ignore. 

Both performances begin at 7:30 p.m. at Cincinnati Music Hall, 1241 Elm St. in Over-the-Rhine. The June 18 performance is Veterans Night, with select free and discounted tickets available for veterans. The June 20 performance is Pride Night, followed by a separate celebration in Music Hall’s Wilks Studio.