* Notes *
Orpheus hosted an event with Drew Landmesser, San Francisco Opera's Director of Production yesterday before the matinée of Fanciulla. After a lovely brunch in the Littlefield Intermezzo Lounge, Landmesser spoke about his involvement with SF Opera, and his previous posts at Lyric Opera Chicago and Houston Grand Opera. It sounds like he truly loves his job, even when speaking about the various challenges backstage, especially as far as space is concerned. The worst part of Landmesser's job is certainly having to organize the parking.
Landmesser took us on a backstage tour, and we even got to stand on the set of Fanciulla. We learnt that they were not entirely sure they were going to get the set until April 2 of this year, when it was shipped from Palermo. The set looked nice from close up, the rock wall is sculpted nicely, one side being red, the other being white, for the different acts. We had to leave the stage so that the ballroom brawl could be rehearsed, evidently they rehearse it each time before the performance.
After the event, some of us stayed for the opera, though most Orpheus members had heard it before earlier in the run. I read the score at the top of house, and noted that the harp I had seen backstage was marked in the score as "arpa interna." Everyone sounded great from back there, the three principal singers are quite loud, as is the orchestra, but the balances are pretty good. The orchestra only obscured the singers two or three times. It also became more obvious to me how Andrew Lloyd Webber had stolen a melody from Fanciulla for "Music of the Night."
* Tattling *
The group of about 30 that showed up for the Orpheus event was characteristically well-behaved. Unfortunately this was less true of the opera audience, and during a quiet part in Act II a cellular phone rang several times. The usher tried her best to get the person in L 102 to turn off the phone, but the latter did not even hear the ringing, and did not know how to operate it. At the second intermission Axel Feldheim was kind enough to help the person in question, who was very embarrassed and apologetic.
The Opera Tattler 
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