Opera Insight

Based on an Oscar Wilde play, the Richard Strauss opera Salome was incredibly controversial when it debuted in 1905 and, indeed, is still quite shocking by today’s standards, thanks to a climatic scene where the title character has sex with John the Baptist’s severed head. Given that background, members of the Florentine Opera (the company about to stage a production of the opera) and emeritus UW-Milwaukee theatre professor Corliss Phillabuam should have plenty to talk about when they give a free presentation on the play tonight at 7 p.m. at the Bay View Schwartz Bookshop location as part of the Opera Insight program.