The Opera Tattler
Reviews of Performances and their Audiences
Month: August 2010
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Miss LCU had a European jaunt this Summer. Her first of three reviews concerns the Greek National Opera's June 18th performance of Norma at the Athens Festival. * Notes * Now, I would like to preface the review portion with this: I am a pretty harsh critic when it comes to classical music, opera in…
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* Program * "Come dal ciel precipita" from MacbethKevin Thompson, bass and Michael Spassov, piano "Je suis encore toute étourdie" from ManonValentina Fleer, soprano and David Hanlon, piano "O du mein holder Abendstern" from TannhäuserAo Li, baritone and Jenna Douglas, piano "Una furtiva lagrima" from L'elisir d'amoreEleazar Rodríguez, tenor and Jenna Douglas, piano * Notes…
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Tenor Daniel Montenegro (pictured left working on his backbend) is just finishing up at the Merola Opera Program where he was Nemorino in L'elisir de amore. He will be performing excerpts from Roméo et Juliette this weekend for the Merola Grand Finale. Montenegro had his San Francisco Opera debut singing Roderigo in Otello last November. He…
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* Notes *Festival Opera‘s second production this season was Lucia di Lammermoor, which closed yesterday. The orchestra sounded robust under Michael Morgan, though the brass was out of tune at times. Overall the singing was very good. “Chi mi frena in tal momento,” featuring Angela Cadelago (Lucia), Thomas Glenn (Arturo), Brian Leerhuber (Enrico), Kirk Eichelberger…
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* Program * "Caro nome" from RigolettoHye Jung Lee, soprano and Jenna Douglas, piano "Куда, куда вы удалились, весны моей златые дни" from Eugene OneginAlexander Lewis, tenor and Natalia Katyukova, piano "Ach, ich fühl's" from Die ZauberflöteJanai Brugger-Orman, soprano and Michael Spassov, piano "Aprite un po' quegli occhi" from Le Nozze di FigaroThomas Florio, bass-baritone…
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The casting for the Merola Grand Finale was announced yesterday. The performance, staged by Ted Huffman, is to take place August 21, and will be conducted by Dean Williamson. The Rake’s ProgressAnne Trulove: Janai Brugger-Orman Tom Rakewell: Alexander Lewis Father Trulove: Kevin Thompson I Puritani Riccardo: Ao Li La Fille du RégimentMarie: Abigail Santos Villalobos…
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* Notes *The matinée performance of the Merola Opera Program's L'elisir d'Amore yesterday was completely sold out. We had yet again a slightly different cast than before, as Alexander Lewis (Nemorino) was well enough to sing, but Sidney Outlaw (Dulcamara) was not. Thomas Florio did an admirable job singing Dulcamara twice in less than 24 hours.…
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* Notes *The third performance of the Merola Opera Program's L'elisir d'Amore on Saturday went splendidly. Though there were brief moments in which one could pick out the individual voices, the chorus sounded more cohesive than before. The orchestra played at a fine clip, though there remained issues of synchronization. There were some intonation problems…
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* Notes *The second performance of the Merola Opera Program‘s L’elisir d’Amore was last night, with different leads. The orchestra still was not precisely together, but again the space in Cowell is challenging. The chorus looked like they were having fun. It certainly was fascinating to watch the same choreography on different bodies, the characterizations…
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* Notes *The Merola Opera Program's L'elisir d'Amore opened last night at Cowell Theater in San Francisco. The orchestra started off crisply under Martin Katz. Though the pit must be less than ideal, they did sound jaunty throughout. The trumpet and bassoon had fine soli. The cast was strong, a lot of lovely voices. The chorus…
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