The Opera Tattler
Reviews of Performances and their Audiences
Month: April 2009
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SopranosSusannah Biller, Georgetown, TennesseeLara Ciekiewicz, Winnipeg, ManitobaKate Crist, Agency, IowaSara Gartland, St. Paul, MinnesotaLori Guilbeau, Golden Meadow, Louisiana Mezzo-sopranosMargaret Gawrysiak, Geneseo, IllinoisCaitlin Mathes, Dayville, ConnecticutEllie Jarrett, Dallas, TexasMaya Lahyani, Hod-HaSharon, Israel ContraltoSuzanne Hendrix, Charles City, Iowa CountertenorRyan Belongie, Beaver Dam, Wisconsin TenorsEleazar Rodríguez, Piedras Negras, Coahuila, MexicoGregory Carroll, Des Moines, WashingtonBrian Jadge, Piermont, New YorkAlex…
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* Notes * Last night's performance of Die Walküre at the Met was more impressive than Das Rheingold. For the most part, the orchestra continued playing rather cleanly, though there was noticeable trumpet error in Act I. The singing in this act was especially strong. René Pape sounded very different as Hunding than as Fasolt the…
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* Notes * The second cycle of the Met’s Der Ring des Nibelungen began yesterday night. The orchestra sounded very clean and restrained under James Levine. The tempi were often rather slow. All of the singing was solid, though not terribly exciting. As Wotan, Albert Dohmen did well, though his voice was a bit thin at…
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* Notes * The Australian Chamber Orchestra played at Zellerbach Hall this afternoon in Berkeley. Lead by the disarming violinist Richard Tognetti, the orchestra navigated the rather disparate program very well. The energy of Haydn's Symphony No. 44 was strong, the piece was grave and even strident. This was followed by the violently lush Footwork by…
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* Notes * Magdalena Kožená opened gave an abbreviated recital on Tuesday night in San Francisco. She was ill, and the low notes in her opening Purcell songs were a bit rough. Her accompanist, Karel Kosarek, seemed to lose his place during Schumann's Frauenliebe und -leben, but Kožená sang well. Her voice is rich and…
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September 17-20 2009: Mark Morris Dance Group September 22 2009: Wynton Marsalis & the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra September 26-27 2009: A House in Bali September 27 2009: Christine Brewer, soprano September 30 2009: Michael Pollan October 11 2009: Takács Quartet October 17 2009: Wayne Shorter Quartet October 18 2009: Michael Schade, tenor October 24-25 2009: Davitt Moroney, harpsichord October 24-25…
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September 7-14 2009: Linda di Chamounix September 15- October 1 2009: Don Carlo September 19- October 18 2009: Tristan und Isolde October 3 2009- June 26 2010: Carmen October 17-28 2009: L'Heure Espagnole /Gianni SchicchiOctober 30- November 14 2009: Artaxerxes November 20- December 8 2009: The Tsarina's Slippers December 7-22 2009: Der Rosenkavalier December 19…
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* Notes * Gabriel Kahane opened for Holcombe Waller at Café Du Nord last night. Though his banjo playing was less than impressive, his piano playing and singing were not unpleasant. It might have been nice had he not been amplified and been playing an actual piano, rather than the monstrous keyboard that was present, as the venue…
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* Notes * Since Angelika Kirchschlager canceled her Berkeley recital for yesterday afternoon, I stayed in San Francisco and heard an evening performance of the Emerson String Quartet instead. They began with a spirited rendition of Mozart's Quartet in B-flat Major, K. 589, the playing was sumptuous without being too showy. In contrast, Beethoven that came next, Quartet in…
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