The Opera Tattler

Reviews of Performances and their Audiences

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Month: October 2005

  • Forza Working Rehearsal

    San Francisco Opera’s new production of La Forza del Destino opens next week on Wednesday, November 2nd. The opera company invited subscribers to see a working rehearsal yesterday, and the experience certainly was educational. One could hear the director, Ron Daniels, screaming at the performers, and this is quite a different view than one usually…

  • Casta Diva

    The Canadian Opera Company’s production of Norma opened at San Francisco Opera last Sunday. The cast is strong, so it is certainly worth seeing. The production itself is uninspired. Remember those tiny houses you built in 3rd grade with your meticulously saved popsicle sticks? The set, designed by Allen Moyer, is reminiscent of these crafts,…

  • Matter can be Neither Created nor Destroyed

    John Adams' Doctor Atomic had its world premiere on the first day of this month at San Francisco Opera. The opera is in English and is set in New Mexico in July 1945. It starts off with the chorus singing something like "Energy! Matter can neither be created nor destroyed!" It was difficult not to…

  • Sundry Performance Notes

    Yesterday someone pulled the fire alarm at just ten minutes before curtain time for the last performance of L’Italiana. Everyone filed out in an orderly fashion, but it took quite a long time to get back inside and settled in again. During the performance I wanted to note that in Act II, Vivica Genaux does…

  • Cra cra cra

    The alternate in the title role for San Francisco opera’s production of L’Italiana in Algeri is excellent. I was not impressed by mezzo-soprano Vivica Genaux in Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria, but I think her voice is better suited to something airy and light like L’Italiana. Her voice was incredible in the role of Isabella,…

  • La Belle et la Bête

    The Oakland Opera Theater's production of Philip Glass' La Belle et la Bête was fully-staged instead of using Jean Cocteau film. Tom Dean & Garrett Lowe's set took inspiration from the film, but the staging also had a bit of a circus influence. There was stilt walking and contorting, which may have been my favorite…