The Opera Tattler
Reviews of Performances and their Audiences
Month: December 2007
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The penultimate performance of Prokofiev’s War and Peace this season at the Met is tonight, and how I wish I could go, if only to see the enormous sparkly red chicken puppet again. Also, I read in the Financial Times that the production features 4 live chickens, in addition to a horse, a dog, and…
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The Met’s first simulcast of the season, Roméo et Juliette, showed on 477 screens in the United States, and 100 screens abroad, selling around 97,000 tickets. The season is as follows: Roméo et JulietteDecember 15, 2007 (10:00 am – 1:30 pm PST) Hansel and GretelJanuary 1, 2008 (10:00 am – 12:35 pm PST) MacbethJanuary 12,…
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January 26- February 3 2008: TannhäuserFebruary 16-24 2008: Maria StuardaMarch 22- April 2 2008: Cavalleria Rusticana/PagliacciApril 12-23 2008: AidaMay 3-11 2008: Les Pêcheurs de Perles Press Release
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* Notes * The Irish film Once was released on DVD earlier this week. I saw it a few months ago, and was determined to dislike it, as it was advertised about a thousand times on NPR as being about musicians finding romance on the streets of Dublin. Imagine my surprise to learn Once is…
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Following the Met‘s lead, San Francisco Opera and The Bigger Picture announced an agreement to bringing opera to movie theaters. Appomattox, Die Zauberflöte, Don Giovanni, La Rondine, Madama Butterfly, and Samson et Dalila will be shown four times each, beginning in March 2008. All of these offerings have already been recorded in the last year,…
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Washington National Opera is presenting a complete Ring Cycle for the first time in November of 2009. Dubbed the "American Ring," this co-production with San Francisco Opera is directed by Francesca Zambello. November 2-16 2009: Das RheingoldNovember 3-17 2009: Die WalküreNovember 5-19 2009: SiegfriedNovember 7-21 2009: Götterdämmerung Official Site | Press Release [PDF]
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* Notes * Madhuri Dixit made her return to the silver screen in Aaja Nachle, after a five year hiatus. She looks pretty great in the movie, considering she has had two kids since playing Chandramukhi in Devdas. Her dancing was lovely, and it was interesting to see a woman who just turned 40 as…
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Franco Zeffirelli, the opera and film director, offered to be an image consultant to Benedict XVI, in an interview with La Stampa. BBC Article
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San Francisco Opera's 84th season ran from September 8, 2006 to July 1, 2007. Ten operas were performed in 76 performances. The annual operating budget was $61,148,690, with a surplus of $40,437. Press Release [PDF] | Official Finances and Governance Site
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* Notes * Of Händel's 29 oratorios, Messiah is far and away the most performed, and is the composer's most famous work. Messiah has returned again to San Francisco Symphony for a couple of performances, conducted by Ragnar Bohlin, who is the new director of the San Francisco Symphony Chorus. Bohlin made his debut conducting…
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