The Opera Tattler
Reviews of Performances and their Audiences
Month: January 2007
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* Notes * Trisha Brown Dance Company was in Berkeley for two performances last weekend. In general, I found her style to be rather slow and sculptural. It was intellectually interesting but not engaging on a visceral level. The dancers were good, but there were times when they were not consistent with each other. For…
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* Notes * Radu Lupu played Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 20 last weekend with the San Francisco Symphony. Lupu certainly was comfortable with the material. He was heavy on the pedal in the Romance. The slower bits were most unclear and slightly mushy. Lawrence Foster conducted, and for the most part it was fine. However…
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* Notes * Ingo Metzmacher conducted Stravinsky's Orpheus and Mozart's C minor Mass last weekend at San Francisco Symphony. The former is ballet music, I had no ear for it, I found it rather dull, though it had some pretty moments in the harp part. Perhaps it would make more sense in the context of…
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* Notes * The alternate cast of Seattle Opera’s current Don Giovanni production is well worth seeing. Their final performance is this Friday, but they also sang on January 14th and 21st. Morgan Smith had a very different characterization of the title role than Mariusz Kwiecien. Smith seemed less dangerous and more athletic. His voice…
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September 7-28 2007: Samson et DalilaSeptember 18- October 12 2007: TannhäuserOctober 5-20 2007: AppomattoxOctober 13- November 3 2007: Die ZauberflöteNovember 7-29 2007: La RondineNovember 14- December 2 2007: MacbethNovember 23- December 9 2007: The Rake’s ProgressDecember 1-8 2007: Madama ButterflyMay 2-11 2008: The Little PrinceJune 3-28 2008: Das RheingoldJune 15- July 6 2008: AriodanteJune 17-…
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September 8- October 6 2007: FidelioSeptember 27- October 13 2007: JenůfaNovember 24- December 15 2007: Don Giovanni November 25- December 16 2007: La BohèmeJanuary 19- February 10 2008: Tristan und IsoldeFebruary 16- March 9 2008: OtelloFebruary 17- March 8 2008: Der Zwerg / Der zerbrochene KrugMay 17- June 21 2008: ToscaJune 7-28 2008: La Rondine…
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* Notes * Chris Alexander’s new production of Don Giovanni premiered last Saturday at Seattle Opera. The set, designed by Robert A. Dahlstrom, was rather flat and limiting. Basically, it consisted of a large wall with many partitions, which did make the scene changes seamless, but was rather domineering and monolithic. Marie-Therese Cramer’s costumes were…
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August 4-25 2007: Der fliegende HolländerOctober 13-27 2007: Iphigénie en TaurideJanuary 12-26 2008: Pagliacci February 23- March 9 2008: ToscaMay 3-17 2008: I Puritani Most interested in hearing Jane Eaglen as Senta, William Burden as Pylade, and John Relyea as Georgio. News from Seattle Opera
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Nicola Luisotti has been appointed the next Music Director of San Francisco Opera. He debuted at this opera house in La Forza del Destino last season and returns in 2008. Luisotti will take up the post in the 2009-2010 season with the departure of Runnicles. Press Release | Biography
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Simulcasts seem to be all the rage now. San Francisco Opera had one of Madama Butterfly last summer, and one of Rigoletto in October. The Met debuted their simulcast program with an English version of Die Zauberflöte in about 150 movie theatres around the world on December 30, 2006. I Puritani will be simulcast this…
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