One of this opera's leitmotifs consists of the short-long descending fourths C G, then F C, then the tritone A D-sharp. At the beginning of this opera, a girl promises to throw a tiny green flower to the man who takes her to the cistern. That girl praises another man whose body "was like an ivory column." It later features a quintet of arguing Jews, and ends with the instruction, "kill the woman!" A dissonant chord played sforzando near the end of this work has been called "the most (*) sickening chord in all opera." That chord is played just after the title soprano says, "I have now kissed thy mouth," to the severed head of Jochanaan. A body double is sometimes used when that soprano gains the favor of her stepfath
One of this opera's leitmotifs consists of the short-long descending fourths C G, then F C, then the tritone A D-sharp. At the beginning of this opera, a girl promises to throw a tiny green flower to the man who takes her to the cistern. That girl praises another man whose body "was like an ivory column." It later features a quintet of arguing Jews, and ends with the instruction, "kill the woman!" A dissonant chord played sforzando near the end of this work has been called "the most (*) sickening chord in all opera." That chord is played just after the title soprano says, "I have now kissed thy mouth," to the severed head of Jochanaan. A body double is sometimes used when that soprano gains the favor of her stepfather, Herod, by performing the Dance of the Seven Veils. For 10 points, name this opera with a libretto based on a play by Oscar Wilde with music by Richard Strauss.
One of this opera's leitmotifs consists of the short-long descending fourths C G, then F C, then the tritone