The Opera Tattler
Reviews of Performances and their Audiences
Month: September 2008
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I finally had my film developed from last April's Berlin trip.
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New York City Opera has commissioned a new work, entitled The Perfect American, from Philip Glass. To be performed during the 2012-2013 season and based on Peter Stephan Jungk's novel Der König von Amerika, the opera is about Walt Disney. AP Article | Press Release
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Apparently Deborah Voigt, Susan Graham, and Patricia Racette sang "Nessun dorma" at the Domingo Gala last night. One can imagine Susie or Pat in a tuxedo, but Debbie looks pretty smart there as well. AP Article | Official Site
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* Notes * The season opener, Simon Boccanegra, closed at San Francisco Opera last night. The first half still remained somewhat unfocused, but the second half did come together nicely. The chorus and the orchestra were synchronized. Vitalij Kowaljow (Jacopo Fiesco) and Patrick Carfizzi (Paolo Albiani) were consistently strong. Marcus Haddock was less stiff as Gabriele, and he…
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* Notes * The second performance of Die Tote Stadt at San Francisco Opera only served to solidify my opinion on this work, which surely deserves to be part of the standard repertoire. Willy Decker's production, directed by Meisje Hummel in this revival, has its own complete conception and is consistent throughout. Instead of trying…
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Production Web Site | Press Photographs Reviews of San Francisco Opera's 2008 Performances: The Opera Tattler (Music) | The Opera Tattler (Production) | Civic Center | Out West Arts | Not For Fun Only | San Francisco Chronicle | San Francisco Classical Voice | Inside Bay Area | Financial Times
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* Notes * Nearly 88 years after the world premiere, Die Tote Stadt finally opened in San Francisco yesterday evening. The work is certainly a very pretty synthesis of Wagner, Strauss, and Puccini. It is nostalgic, but also prefigures Korngold's work in film scores. The music sounded effortless under the direction of Donald Runnicles, the…
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Yesterday evening Kip Cranna moderated a panel discussion on Erich Wolfgang Korngold's Die Tote Stadt, which has a San Francisco premiere tonight. The panelists included baritone Lucas Meachem (Fritz, Frank), the revival director Meisje Hummel, and conductor Donald Runnicles. The discussion was one of the more informative, and it is too bad San Francisco Opera neglected to put the talk…
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* Notes * The Fly opened at Los Angeles Opera earlier this month and has one more performance next weekend. Based only partially on David Cronenberg’s 1986 film, the action is set in the 1950s, as George Langelaan’s short story and the original film are. All in all, this production was entertainingly campy, though a…
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