Why the Met won't show Karita Mattila naked in the HD broadcast of 'Salome'

Karita Mattila. Naked. Those three words have been on the mind of practically every New York opera fan for the last month as the Finnish soprano strips bare in the Metropolitan Opera's revival of "Salome" by Richard Strauss.

On Saturday, the company will broadcast the opera live in HD to movie theaters around the country. While those at the Met will see Mattila go full frontal during the Dance of the Seven Veils, those of us at the movies will see something, well, much more restrained.

"You'll see the camera pan away from her as she does the dance," a Met spokesman told Culture Monster. "Either it will pan discreetly away to the audience, or it will do a close-up of her face."

The decision not to show the nudity came from Met general manager Peter Gelb, who, the spokesman said, "decided early on that the 'Salome' broadcast would not feature nudity."

The spokesman added that the Met markets its HD broadcasts as family-friendly events and that Gelb and the creative team are treating the scene in a way that is sensitive to the artists while still being true to the original piece.

When asked about Mattila's input into the decision, the spokesman declined to comment for the record, but he did point out that video clips of the soprano performing nude have circulated on YouTube, though these scenes are from productions in Europe, not the Met's. (Culture Monster was able to find one such clip -- a scene from a Paris production of "Salome" in which Mattila flashes her buttocks.)

The Met's decision to censor its own production will undoubtedly disappoint fans who've wanted to see what all the fuss is about. In an interview with the Times last year, Mattila described the scene as her "slutty, two-second nude pose."

But the broadcast will still contain its share of debauched moments, including one in which Salome canoodles with the severed head of Jochanaan -- the John the Baptist character.

Those who absolutely have to see Mattila in the buff can check out former Met general manager Joseph Volpe's memoir "The Toughest Show on Earth," which features a photograph of the soprano in character as Salome, minus her seven veils.

For a list of L.A.-area theaters showing "Salome," click below ...

L.A.-area cinemas showing "Salome." All show times are 10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 11, only. To buy tickets, visit Fathom Events.

Los Angeles County
The Bridge, 6081 Center Drive, Los Angeles
Century City 15, 10250 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles
Burbank 16, 125 E. Palm Ave., Burbank
Promenade 16, 21801 Oxnard St., Woodland Hills
Santa Anita, 400 S. Baldwin Ave., Arcadia
Puente Hills 20, 1560 S. Azusa Ave., Rowland Heights
Alhambra Renaissance 14, 1 E. Main St., Alhambra
Valencia Stadium 12, 24435 Town Center Drive, Santa Clarita
Antelope Valley Mall, 1475 West Avenue P, Palmdale
Cinemark 22, 2600 W. Avenue I, Lancaster

Orange County
Huntington Beach 20, 7777 Edinger Ave., Huntington Beach
Irvine Spectrum 20, 65 Fortune Drive, Irvine
Tustin Legacy 14, 2457 Park Ave., Tustin
Orange Stadium Promenade 25, 1701 W. Katella Ave., Orange

Riverside / San Bernardino / Ventura counties
Galleria at Tyler 16, 3775 Tyler St., Riverside
Ventura Stadium 16, 2875 Elba St., Ventura
Ontario Mills 30, 4529 Mills Circle, Ontario
Cinemark 16 Victorville, 14470 Bear Valley Road, Victorville

— David Ng

Photo: Marty Sohl / Associated Press

Comments

[Dr. Paul Rapoport]

This has to be the simplest piece of ignorant hypocrisy in the arts since Ronald Reagan. In no respect has an image of a naked female on stage in Salome anything to do with that repressive concept deviously coded as "family friendly." Children haven't any problem with nudity, especially young ones. It's their obsessive, fearful elders who have an issue.

The biggest laugh comes from someone saying no nudity in a production of this thoroughly adult erotic tragedy. If kids are watching already, believe me, nudity isn't going to faze them. Doesn't a severed head and Salome wanting to kiss its mouth mean much more?

Although Strauss spoke out against the tendency to nudity in the Dance (and rightly so), if it's in the opera, then this censorship is ridiculous and unjustifiable in any terms. You'd think a major opera house would know better than to give in to a coercive mania that doesn't deserve the slightest notice.

[Malcolm Boura]

Censorship should be based on evidence of harm. Anything else is just prejudice. It is especially unacceptable when it encourages attitudes known to be harmful.

The attitudes of a society have outcomes which no amount of sex education can compensate for. International comparisons are conclusive. Prudish countries have worse outcomes for a wide range of indicators and the USA is no exception. It is one of the most prudish western countries and it also has some of the worst outcomes. For example compared to the more liberal countries such as Denmark or The Netherlands teenagers become sexually active nearly a year younger, they are much less likely to use a condom or contraception and they are more likely to be promiscuous. The results are predictable. Nearly ten times more likely to become pregnant, nearly ten times more likely to have an abortion and over seventy times more likely to catch gonorrhea. The USA is not going to achieve large improvements without facing up to the attitudes which indirectly cause the problem.

Prudery is child abuse and no amount of misguided moralistic hand wringing can change that simple fact.

[Michel Braga]

nudity in an Opera???

Ít´s hard to believe... despite the fact I´m just a movie goer...

So my opinion doesn´t count much...laughs...

[Marshall]

What a sad, prudish gesture.

[Kevin]

Oh, come on. Is opera going to end up being limited to young, "beautiful" people of marginal talent like pop music? Ooh! She's naked! How edgy! How courageous! Give me a freaking break. I want to hear the best singers. I don't care if they're 65 years old and fat as cows. It ain't over 'til the fat lady sings, and I want that fat lady to keep singing and keep her clothes on, too.

[Critic]

The nudity is part of the story, it isn't nudity just for the sake of nudity. You need to research a topic before you post your opinion, Kevin. Additionally, what's to say someone can't be an attractive person and be able to sing? This is the business evolving and, like it or not, you're going to have to learn to live with it.

[duke]

The Dance of the SIX Veils?

[Bill]

My guess is the Met's decision has as much to do with the new Met in HD "family" member--the Dubai Event Management Corporation--as it does with Peter Gelb's concern for the children in the audience. As if the plot of the piece--teenage girl strips to impress her leering stepfather so he'll behead the holy man who has ignored her advances--was somehow family friendly without nudity! Censored or not, Ms. Matilla gave an astonishing performance. I still get goosebumps thinking about the final scene and feel lucky to have seen the live broadcast.

[Maria]

Kevin,

though Mattila IS attractive, she's far from being a "young performer" with only "marginal" talent. She's pure fire, her singing being as powerful as her acting. Also, sexuality and lust are one of the driving themes of the opera, and Mattila isn't the first performer to portray Salome completely naked (Maria Ewing did it also.) So the nudity in the performance is NOT an arbitrary move in order to make the production seem "edgy." In fact, nudity would be completely appropriate (and expected!) of a serious Salome performance.

[quiteashtrudel]

No, if you want to see the opera, and the opera is a story, a plausible story of sex and seduction and emotion, then the Salome needs to present that... It must be believable, or go buy a record of Monserrat Caballe, who is a great vocalist, but completelyl rediculous as Salome in the shall we say,, "flesh"?