Johann Strauss’ “Salome,” the second production of the Washington National Opera’s 2010-2011 season, is all about opposites: hedonism versus asceticism; devotion to physical excess versus devotion to purity; inconsistency versus steadfastness, to name just a few of the opera’s extremes.

This production, masterfully directed by Francesca Zambello, emphasizes the stark distances between those opposites, using all the elements of Strauss’ opera—lush music, a biblical story, epic characters — to maximum effect to create a work that is lucid and compelling.