The Opera Tattler
Reviews of Performances and their Audiences
Month: October 2009
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* Notes * Last night Osmo Vänskä lead San Francisco Symphony in a program of Sallinen, Sibelius, and Beethoven. Aulis Sallinen's Symphony No. 1 was rather oceanic, filled with waves and swells. The viola solo, played by Yun-Jie Liu, was particularly lovely, as was the duet between the viola and second violin. Sibelius' Concerto in D…
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Production Web Site | Press Photographs Final Dress: Not For Fun Only Performance Reviews: The Opera Tattler | Not For Fun Only | Iron Tongue of Midnight | Out West Arts | A Beast in the Jungle | SFCV | Mercury News | San Francisco Chronicle | Culture Monster | Arts Beat With Molly Fillmore: The…
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* Notes * Davitt Moroney gave a marathon performance of Bach's Das Wohltemperirte Clavier as a part of Cal Performances last weekend. This took about 5 hours to complete, and was humanely divided up so that one did not sit for more than an hour at a time. On Saturday evening Part I was played, Sunday afternoon…
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* Notes * The fourth San Francisco Opera Costume Sale continues today from 11 in the morning until 4 in the afternoon, and was clearly well-publicized. The queue started well before 9 in the morning yesterday and extended south on Indiana Street, and then west on 22nd Street all the way under the freeway (280). People…
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* Notes * Last night Osmo Vänskä lead San Francisco Symphony in a program of John Adams' Slonimsky's Earbox, Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1, and Dvořák's Symphony No. 7. Slonimsky's Earbox was quite cute, a sort of jaunty circus music. The orchestra crackled under Vänskä, and it was a good opportunity to hear the new principal…
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Soprano Gabriela Pochinki is accused of ill-behavior at Nice Matin. Official Site | News
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* Notes * San Francisco Opera's Salome had a second performance last night, after opening last Sunday. Maestro Luisotti was more restrained in this than in Il Trovatore or the Brahms he conducted across the street. The orchestra never overwhelmed the singing, but still had a florid quality. The sleek production, designed by Bruno Schwengl, is elegant…
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* Notes * Last night Lieder Alive! presented a recital featuring soprano Heidi Melton and tenor Eleazar Rodríguez accompanied by John Parr at SFCM. Rodríguez started the evening with Beethoven’s Adelaide, which he sang with great enthusiasm. This was followed by a technically clean and very sweet rendition of Schumann’s Dichterliebe. He only had the slightest bit…
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* Notes * A revival of Aida opened earlier this month at the Metropolitan Opera, and the Opera Tattler attended last Saturday's matinée at a score desk. The orchestra sounded tastefully restrained under Daniele Gatti, but not without emotion. The tempi and the dynamic nuances were unmistakable, and the playing was fairly clean and rarely overwhelmed…
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