The Opera Tattler

Reviews of Performances and their Audiences

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Month: April 2011

  • The Tetzlaff Quartet at SF Performances

    * Notes * The Tetzlaff Quartet (pictured left by Alexandra Vosding) is just finishing a tour of the United States. The ensemble's penultimate stop at Herbst Theatre was presented by San Francisco Performances. The evening began with Haydn's String Quartet in G minor, Op. 20, No. 3, which was played with fire and nuanced dynamics. Violinist…

  • Alan Held Interview

    This weekend bass-baritone Alan Held (pictured left, leftmost photo by Christian Steiner) finishes a run of Wozzeck at the Metropolitan Opera. He goes to Baden-Baden next for Salome, Munich in July for Rusalka, Washington DC in September for Tosca, and Bilbao in October and November for Tristan und Isolde. Next season he returns to San…

  • Capriccio at the Met

    An account of Capriccio this season at the Metropolitan Opera from the Unbiased Opinionator. * Notes * “Indian Summer” is used by music historians to describe the re-flowering of Richard Strauss’ creative powers toward the end of his life, after the catastrophe of World War II. This re-flowering, which occurred after a period of jaded stagnation,…

  • Daveda Karanas’ Schwabacher Debut Recital

    * Notes * Mezzo-soprano Daveda Karanas gave her Schwabacher Debut Recital, accompanied by pianist Allen Periello, yesterday evening. The program was designed around Wagner’s Wesendonck Lieder, which ended the performance. To begin we heard songs from Liszt, all on themes related to the source texts of Der Ring des Nibelungen. Likewise, Peter Heise’s Gurdruns Sorg is…

  • Daniel Catán

    Opera composer Daniel Catán died yesterday in Austin, Texas. He was 62. NPR | Biography

  • The Creation at PBO

    * Notes * Nicholas McGegan and Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra end the season with five performances of The Creation by Haydn. Last night's offering in Berkeley was gratifying and jubilant. McGegan kept the proceedings vivacious, and only a few moments were chaotic, most evident in the end of Part II. The dynamics throughout were distinct. The chorus…

  • Vänskä conducts Larcher, Mendelssohn, & Vaughan Williams at SFS

    * Notes * This week Osmo Vänskä conducts San Francisco Symphony in a program of Larcher, Mendelssohn, and Vaughan Williams. Thomas Larcher's eerie, cinematic Red and Green required a large number of instruments, yet was played with tasteful restraint. The sound was never overpowering, even when two of the trombone players hit their instruments with sticks.…

  • Das Rheingold at the Met (Lepage)

    An account of the final performance of Das Rheingold this season at the Metropolitan Opera from the Unbiased Opinionator. * Notes * Director Robert Lepage gave an extensive interview in New York City last fall about his conception of the Ring. He spent considerable time in Iceland, and said that no one who lived in the…

  • ABS performs Bach and Telemann

    * Notes * The American Bach Soloists performed secular works from Bach and Telemann last Saturday in San Francisco. The evening began with the "Wedding Cantata," with soprano Yulia Van Doren as the soloist. Her voice as a darkness to it, yet maintains a clarity of tone. She was pleasant to hear, though she did not…

  • SFCM’s Dialogue of the Carmelites

    * Notes * SFCM Opera Theatre presented Poulenc’s Dialogue of the Carmelites, in English translation, last weekend. Michael Morgan held the orchestra together, and for the most part, the orchestra and singers were on beat. There was some raggedness in the brass and woodwinds, and the music certainly did not sound easy. Whatever was used for…