The Opera Tattler

Reviews of Performances and their Audiences

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Month: April 2010

  • The Tender Land at Berkeley Opera

    * Notes *The production of Aaron Copland's The Tender Land at Berkeley Opera is both lively and heartfelt. The music was quite cute and rather transparent, and the thirteen musicians sounded together under Philip Kuttner. The singing was consistent and the acting was convincing. The chorus sounded nice during the party scene in Act II.…

  • Thom Yorke at the Fox Theater

    * Notes *Thom Yorke and Atoms for Peace played two shows at the Fox Theater in Oakland, before heading off to Santa Barbara and Coachella this weekend. I am often at a loss about what to make of the music young people listen to or the lighting displays at such events as these. Thom Yorke…

  • LA Opera’s Die Gezeichneten Media Round-Up

    Production Web Site | Press Photographs Reviews: The Opera Tattler | Out West Arts | OC Register | Variety | LA Times

  • PBO’s Orlando Media Round-Up

    Production Web Site | Press Photographs Performance Reviews: The Opera Tattler | Not For Fun Only | Civic Center | The Reverberate Hills |  Mercury News | SF Chronicle

  • The Adler Fellows in The Stronger & The Impresario

    * Notes * Half a dozen Adler Fellows put on Hugo Weisgall's The Stronger and Mozart's The Impresario at Livermore Valley Opera last Sunday. Pianist Tamara Sanikidze played the astringent music with aplomb, and Leah Crocetto managed to command attention despite how unsympathetic the character of Estelle could be. Maya Lahyani acted the mute role of Lisa…

  • Jennifer Higdon wins Pulitzer

    Jennifer Higdon has won a Pulitzer Prize for her Violin Concerto. Pulitzer | Official Site

  • Die Gezeichneten at LA Opera

    * Notes * Franz Schreker’s Die Gezeichneten opened last night as part of LA Opera‘s Recovered Voices series. The music is rather voluptuous, yet oddly shimmery as well, and certainly is very beautiful. For the most part, the orchestra held together under James Conlon. The sound, while at times quite robust, did not overwhelm the…

  • Händel’s Orlando at PBO

    * Notes * Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra opened a run of Händel's Orlando last night at Herbst Theatre in San Francisco. The opera was semi-staged, which made a rather silly opera perhaps even less convincing than it might have been. Production aside, the music was lovely. The orchestra sounded cohesive and jaunty under Nicholas McGegan. The strings…

  • Outwater conducts SFS

    * Notes * Edwin Outwater is conducting San Francisco Symphony in a program of Gounod, Duncan Sheik, Claude Vivier, and Poulenc this week. Gounod's rather swirly Ballet Music from Faust sounded lovely, especially the woodwinds during the Danse antique (Allegretto). Duncan Sheik's Song Suite from Whisper House, arranged by Simon Hale, involved two amplified vocalists (including…

  • Cerny at Dallas Opera

    Keith Cerny will be the next general director of Dallas Opera, starting May 24, 2010. Press Release [PDF] | Official Site