Without a doubt, Salome is a great opera, and this is a great recording, featuring the late Birgit Nilsson in one of her best roles. Her voice is ideal in this type of dramatic role (she also found great success in the great Wagner soprano roles). The way in which she revels in the sadism of the part is spine tingling; I have not heard the final scene so vicious and yet utterly seductive at the same time. Gerhard Stolze gives a typically-vibrant reading of Herod, and his scene, towards the end, where he pleads with Salome not to compel him to order the execution of Jokanaan (John the Baptist) is one of the best I have heard.
As usual, Georg Solti stirs the Vienna Philharmonic in to action, displaying great momentum and sense of purpose. He really allows the `shock' value to come to the fore. One critic described Puccini's opera `Tosca' as a shabby shocker; well, this is a splendid shocker, and this recording will leave you drained. It's all quite perverse. The recorded sound is superb (dating from 1961).
This particular packaging is no longer available new. However, the opera is available on a new remastered version called "Solti Strauss" which has different packaging. Highly recommended.