The Opera Tattler
Reviews of Performances and their Audiences
Month: October 2010
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* Notes * Cal Performances presented a lecture from Alex Ross entitled Chacona, Lamento, Walking Blues: Bass Lines of Music History last Thursday in Berkeley. The talk is based on the second chapter of his new book, Listen to This. We started off with the chaconne, a Spanish dance popular in the early 17th century. The…
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* Notes * Ray of Light Theatre's run of Jerry Springer: The Opera closes this weekend. The Wednesday performance I attended with John Marcher confused me a bit, the music sounded almost like an oratorio, but the lyrics were rife with profanity. After the second act I decided the composer, Richard Thomas, must have heard…
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* Notes * Harold Prince’s production of Madama Butterfly opened last night at San Francisco Opera. The revolving set, designed by Clarke Dunham, is pretty enough. Though not terribly elegant, it is sure to delight most. The transitions were fluid. Director José Maria Condemi certainly was presented a challenge of getting people on, off, and…
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This season, the Metropolitan Opera is presenting two operas that weave personal emotional drama into the sweep of great historical events: Boris Godunov and Don Carlo. On October 8, the final dress rehearsal of Boris took place, and what follows are the Unbiased Opinionator's impressions. * Notes * After Peter Stein's cancellation due to visa difficulties,…
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In case you, gentle reader, were wondering who the Opera Tattler and her lovely guest writers are, here are some brief biographies. The Unbiased Opinionator’s first review will be posted tomorrow, covering the Boris Godunov that premieres tonight at the Met. You can hear the performance live tonight at 7pm EST.
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* Notes * The ninth season of the BluePrint series at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music opened on Saturday night. The performance started with the West Coast premiere of Laura Schwendinger's Chiaroscuro Azzurro, which featured violinist Wei He. The New Music Ensemble sounded tightly together under conductor Nicole Paiement, whose every move seemed carefully…
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* Notes * Michael Tilson Thomas is conducting San Francisco Symphony a program of Revueltas, Villa-Lobos, Varèse, and Beethoven this week. Revueltas' Sensemayá sounded tropical and percussive, and Villa-Lobos' Ciranda das sete notas was quite pretty. Principal bassoon player Stephen Paulson was the soloist in the latter, and the lines were beautifully lyrical. The strings sounded…
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A segment featuring composer Jennifer Higdon and violinist Hilary Hahn airs tonight on PBS NewsHour. Official Site | Blog
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Baritone Marco Vratogna (pictured left in San Francisco, note trousers and shoes) just finished singing Amonasro in the season opening run of Aida at San Francisco Opera. He is scheduled to sing Jack Rance in La Fanciulla del West at the Lyric Opera of Chicago and Ezio in Attila at La Scala in June. The…
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