The Opera Tattler

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Albert Herring at Cal Performances

TheBrittenProject_AlbertHerring_01_Credit_F&ESchmidt * Notes * 
This weekend Cal Performances presented Castleton Festival‘s Albert Herring. The production involves much abuse of artificial fruit. It was particularly unsatisfying when the title character threw fake peaches against a Plexiglas window in Act II. The use of astroturf was, however, entertaining.

The cast, as with The Rape of Lucretia, boasted not a few lovely voices. The three children (Harry, Cis, and Emmie) were amplified, but sounded clean and pure in tone. Rachel Calloway was perfectly hysterical as Mrs. Herring. Adrian Kramer and Tammy Coll made for a funny, attractive pair as Sid and Nancy. Benjamin Bloomfield (Superintendent Budd), Tyler Nelson (Mr. Upfold), Alexander Tall (Mr. Gedge), Ashleigh Semkiw (Miss Wordsworth), and Kristin Patterson (Florence Pike) all acted and sang their roles with ease. Brian Z. Porter did well as Albert Herring, his diction was clear. Best of all was Nancy Gustafson as a very amusing Lady Billows. Her voice is luminous, flexible, and never shrill. The musicians, conducted by Lorin Maazel, played directly, but were a bit loud for the singers.

* Tattling * 
The audience members talked lightly, especially during overtures. There were a few watch alarms that sounded at each hour.

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11 responses to “Albert Herring at Cal Performances”

  1. Joan Vargas Avatar
    Joan Vargas

    I was at the performance this weekend and couldn’t disagree more with this review. As a group of young artists this was one of the BEST performances I have seen at Cal Performances. Bravo Castleton, Bravo!

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  2. Doug Avatar
    Doug

    Thanks OT! I thought the production was embarrassingly bad and the acting way over the top and notably inconsistent. The fruit smelled of disaster. That said, it bummed me out to see smaller houses than I’d hoped for both operas. I’m convinced Cal Performances could reach an even larger audience with an expanded marketing strategy. I sure hope they totally sell out when Einstein on the Beach arrives in October 0f 2012 and it is a delight to see Cal Perfs presenting operas that SFO likely would not.

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  3. sfmike Avatar
    sfmike

    Awful, awful, awful. Great opera, bad production.

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  4. Doug Avatar
    Doug

    SFMike: Oh no! So sorry you didn’t like it either. Help me understand the “great opera” part. I know I didn’t give it much of a chance, but it seemed hard to imagine it working outside of coastal, small town England some decades ago.

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  5. Robin Avatar
    Robin

    Sadly, I was one of the disappointed too. The voices. for the most part, were good…but from my seat in the back, Brian Porters voice lost some “spark” in the ssecond act, Mazel began conducting far too slowly…and the act dragged… had to dash out for coffee to keep me awake for the final act – which thankfully picked up – both in pace and singing.
    Loved the set! (Hated the faux fruit!) I liked the opportunity to see a rarely done Britten Opera though.
    Bis Mai!
    ♥ Robin ♥

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  6. Not For Fun Only Avatar
    Not For Fun Only

    The fake peaches were out of control. The stage was covered with them at the end, & I was afraid that some of them would roll into the pit. The audience might as well throw peaches at the stage too.
    I don’t know this opera, but I agree with Robin about the tempos. My sense was that it was too slow.

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  7. The Opera Tattler Avatar
    The Opera Tattler

    I thought the cast was good, so I’m a bit confused what you disgree with here.

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  8. The Opera Tattler Avatar
    The Opera Tattler

    I was very amused by the fruit throwing, but I suppose that just goes to show that I am not very mature.

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  9. The Opera Tattler Avatar
    The Opera Tattler

    You don’t like astroturf?

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  10. The Opera Tattler Avatar
    The Opera Tattler

    I was expecting Mazel to be even more slow than he was, but yes, it certainly was languid as far as tempi.

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  11. The Opera Tattler Avatar
    The Opera Tattler

    That’s a very good point, it is too bad we didn’t get to throw fake peaches.

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