Opera rarely does “low stakes.” Performers are constantly playing tragic lovers, families torn apart, and characters consumed by fatal obsessions. But for soprano Kathryn Lewek and tenor Zach Borichevsky, navigating those extraordinary circumstances comes with a unique twist. This summer in Cincinnati Opera’s production of Richard Strauss’s Salome, they aren’t just colleagues sharing a stage—she in the title role, and he as Narraboth. They’re sharing a life as husband and wife.
It’s a partnership that has already spanned countless productions, but working with a spouse changes the room. Lewek admits that the professional “niceties” go away. Years of rehearsing together have built a tier of trust where feedback is entirely direct without having to walk on eggshells. The result is an unspoken artistic shorthand and an easy physical chemistry that simply can’t be manufactured in a three-week rehearsal period. They’ve played plenty of legendary stage lovers before, such as those in Romeo and Juliet and Lucia di Lammermoor. The weight of those roles has occasionally blurred the lines between performance and reality. The couple recalls the final moments of Romeo and Juliet, where watching each other “die” night after night eventually transcended acting. As their own family grew, the scene morphed into a poignant, real-world reminder of fleeting youth and inevitable loss, anchoring the performance in genuine emotional truth.
But if Salome offers an intense, dark world on the clock, life off-hours remains refreshingly grounded. When you have children, elaborate pre-show rituals vanish, according to Lewek. Performance prep is squeezed between parenting, though they still spend time drilling scores together at home, trading notes and encouragement. Afterward? The glamorous illusion drops. Borichevsky leans into the comfort of a familiar routine, while Lewek is ready for the immediate antidote to an opera night: good food and a solid cocktail.
Strauss’s Salome is a masterpiece built upon a kind of raw, volatile human emotion. As Lewek and Borichevsky tackle the production’s dark psychological twists this season, they’re bringing more than technical precision to the stage. They are bringing a shared history. Audiences won’t just see two great artists executing a notoriously difficult score, but they’ll see how a real-life partnership completely changes the energy on stage.