The Opera Tattler
Reviews of Performances and their Audiences
Month: October 2010
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* Notes * This week Pablo Heras-Casado just finished conducting San Francisco Symphony in a program of Mendelssohn’s Fingal’s Cave, Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 1, György Kurtág‘s Grabstein für Stephan, and Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 12. Yesterday’s performance began with Mendelssohn, and it seemed that Heras-Casado was drawing this music out of the players. The clarinet solo…
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* Notes * Having missed Urban Opera‘s Dido and Aeneas last year, the Opera Tattler made a concerted effort to attend their sophomore production, which opened yesterday afternoon. The work at hand, entitled The Witch of Endor, is a pastiche that includes a poem by Rudyard Kipling, bit and pieces of music from Henry Purcell, a…
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A revival of Metropolitan Opera‘s Il Trovatore, seen in San Francisco last year, opened this evening. Here is the Unbiased Opinionator’s account of final dress rehearsal that occurred on October 21st. The Opera Tattler was quite surprised to hear that Patricia Racette was indisposed, as she is known for having vocal cords of steel. At…
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* Notes * Daniel Harding conducted the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden in a program of Schumann, Beethoven, and Brahms in San Francisco on Sunday evening. The performance started with the Manfred Overture. Harding gave many cues, all far in advance of when they were acted upon. The playing was focused, the brass lucid, and the flute sweet.…
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* Notes * Sunday’s matinée of San Francisco Opera’s Cyrano de Bergerac opened a run of seven performances. Petrika Ionesco’s production, from Théâtre du Châtelet, is attractive, but does not make for the most elegant set changes. There was much delightful spectacle, and the staging was not entirely old-fashioned either, despite looking fairly traditional. The orchestra…
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* Notes * James Conlon, Los Angeles Opera‘s music director, is conducting San Francisco Symphony a program of Wagner, Bruch, and Dvořák this week. Yesterday’s performance began with the Prelude to Act I of Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, which was lovely. The trumpet and trombone were particularly strong, and the orchestra sounded cohesive. This was followed…
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* Notes *Soprano Leah Crocetto gave a recital of her favorite songs with pianist Tamara Sanikidze for the Salons at the Rex series yesterday evening. Crocetto began with “Ain’t it a pretty night?” from Carlisle Floyd’s Susannah. She learnt this piece at the age of 18, and it sounded very natural for her. This was followed by…
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* Notes * Today the Communications Department of San Francisco Opera hosted an event with Plácido Domingo in conversation with David Gockley. Domingo will be singing the title role in Cyrano de Bergerac, which opens Sunday, and Gockley spoke a bit about how this was arranged, why we are getting a production from Théâtre du Châtelet,…
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* Notes * The last three performances of San Francisco Opera's Le Nozze di Figaro this season features four new cast members. In the back of the balcony for the second performance on Saturday everyone could be heard, unlike during matinée I attended a week before in the side balcony. Dale Travis was perfectly funny as…
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