'SALOME'
Opens Saturday: Mlada Khudoley ("Il Trovatore," 2008) returns to Minnesota to sing the celebrated lead in Richard Strauss' opera. Tenor Dennis Petersen sings the role of Herod, and baritone Jason Howard is John the Baptist in a Minnesota Opera production staged by David Lefkowich. Emmanuel Joel-Hornak, who conducted the recent "La Bohème," returns to the podium. Strauss' production was based on Oscar Wilde's dramatization of the biblical story in which Salome asks for the head of John the Baptist. With elements such as Salome dancing with the Baptist's severed head, and the salacious Dance of the Seven Veils, the opera can tend to be scandalous -- depending on the director's appetite for controversy. This is a signature role for Moscow-born Khudoley, pictured above singing Salome in Vancouver in 2009. (7:30 p.m. Sat. $20-$200. Ends April 24. Ordway Center, 5th and Washington Sts., St. Paul. 612-333-6669 or www.mnopera.org.)
GRAYDON ROYCE
