Salome (opera)
Herodes is the King of Judea and he has thrown a wild party at his palace. The action takes place at the palace on a terrace outside the banqueting hall. Herodes, his wife Herodias, and her daughter Salome are all inside the banqueting hall when the opera starts. Narraboth, the captain of Herodes’s guards, is madly in love with Salome. But his friend, Herodias’s servant, is concerned. The moon looks strange, which he believes is a sign that something terrible will happen, especially if Narraboth keeps staring at Salome. Some Jews cause an uproar in the hall and the guards scoff at their religion but suddenly, there is a voice from a deep pit with a cover on it. Some of the guests outside ask the guards who it is and they answer: This is Jokanaan, a prophet from the desert. Nobody knows exactly what he’s saying, but Herodes has forbidden anyone from seeing him.