"Let's kick ass!"

So that's what Karita Mattila says before every show. I love it!

Deborah Voigt briefly interviewed Mattila for the opening of today's Live in HD presentation of Salome. I saw last Saturday's performance from a fabulous Grand Tier Box, and it was interesting to revisit the production in a Boston cinema. It worked much better in the house - I don't think the close-ups were flattering to Mattila. At the Met, her energy fills the entire space of the auditorium, such that, at times, it seems as if the walls could barely contain her. On the screen, we see a woman who, in fact, doesn't quite look the part.

The final scene, however, translated beautifully, partly because the camera angles gave a more accurate sense of what it's like to experience this performance in the house.