The Opera Tattler
Reviews of Performances and their Audiences
Month: July 2008
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* Notes * This evening the Merola Opera Program‘s Albert Herring opened with the first of two performances. The production, directed by Peter Kazaras, is charming. Donald Eastman’s sets are clever and use the small space well. The lighting design from Kate Boyd is nice and simple. Though the opera was originally set at the…
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Production Web Site | Press Release [PDF] Singers: Hope Briggs | Noah Stewart | Scott Bearden Reviews: The Opera Tattler | The Reverberate Hills | Iron Tongue of Midnight | Contra Costa Times | Saturday Matinee | San Francisco Chronicle
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Composer Keith Burstein declared bankruptcy after running up legal fees of £67,000. Burstein attempted to sue the London Evening Standard because of an unfavorable review of his opera Manifest Destiny (Soprano Bernadette Lord as Leila pictured left in a production photo). Having read Veronica Lee’s 142-word review from August 15, 2005 (it is in the PDF below), I did…
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Wind-powered opera is forthcoming, as Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Hazel Blears has approved Glyndebourne’s wind turbine. Press Statement | Official Site | Article in the Guardian UK
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* Notes * Festival Opera, the third largest opera company in the Bay Area, opened the 2008 season with Il Trovatore yesterday at the Hofmann Theatre. Giulio Cesare Perrone's production is straightforward, his set design is simple but evocative, only small changes are made for the different scenes. The only obvious weak point was in…
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Teatro Colón, which was closed in 2006 and was supposed to be ready in 2008, is to reopen in 2010. Article in The Economist | Official Site
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Robert LePage’s production of The Rake’s Progress is currently at Covent Garden. The reviews seem mixed, Rupert Christiansen found the production dull, but Warwick Thompson found it magical. I should have liked to hear John Relyea sing Nick Shadow, as I found James Morris a bit boring in that role last year. Richard Morrison’s Review in the…
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John McWhorter makes an argument for translated operas in this New York Sun article. Personally, I don’t particularly like supertitles either, especially ones in English for operas in English, but I do like hearing operas in the original language. To be fair, I do have the advantage of having studied German, Latin, and Spanish, though…
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* Notes * The inaugural indoor Schwabacher Summer Concert occurred yesterday at the Herbst Theatre. YoungJoo An began the evening by singing Tonio’s “Si puo?” from Pagliacci. The baritone burst out behind the side door curtains in a most absurd manner. His tone was full and pleasant though his vibrato was a bit out of control at…
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William Friedkin will direct An Inconvenient Truth, the opera, which is to open on May 11, 2011 at La Scala. Variety Article
The Opera Tattler 