The Opera Tattler

Reviews of Performances and their Audiences

Recent posts

SF Opera’s Siegfried Cycle 2

Sfopera-siegfried-act2-6 * Notes * 
San Francisco Opera‘s second Ring cycle continued with Siegfried (Act II, Scene 3 pictured left, photo by Cory Weaver) on Friday. The orchestra played clearly. The sound of the off-stage horn in Act II, Scene 2 was clean and pleasant. The music for Siegfried passing through the magic fire at the end of Act III, Scene 2 was also played well. Jay Hunter Morris (Siegfried) sounded richer than in previous performances, though he does not have the baritonal darkness of a Heldentenor in his voice, he is pleasant to hear. He also made it all the way to the end of the performance without being in danger of losing his voice. Mark Delavan sang with a pretty warmth, though not a great deal of volume. He made an endearing substitution of “Schwarz” for “Licht” for his last answer in Act I, Scene 2. David Cangelosi was strong as Mime. Nina Stemme was again incredible as Brünnhilde.

* Tattling * 
The audience was exceptionally ill-behaved. A cellular phone rang many times when Mime was singing about Sieglinde in Act I, Scene 1. There was another mobile that rang during Act I, Scene 2. I was reading the score in the back on an iPad, and a late-comer asked me how much longer Act I would go, and scared me out of my skin. I responded that we had another scene to go, and asked her not to speak to me, as I was trying to listen to the music.

Some other late-comers to Act II dropped their personal effects on the bench I was sitting on, and the female half of the couple chose rest the upper half of her body on them, making a horrible crunching sound on some sort of plastic water bottle. Later in the act they talked extensively, right in front of where I was seated. In Act III the person next to me sang along for a bit of the prologue, but noticed the look I gave him, and was silent for the rest of the performance.

Posted in , , , , , ,

8 responses to “SF Opera’s Siegfried Cycle 2”

  1. Ann the tea maiden Avatar
    Ann the tea maiden

    I am getting nervous about Cycle Three — seems the pests get pestier each cycle… You would think that for these operas — if for none other — we could listen undisturbed. So sorry you had to endure these disturbances, but fortunately your acute hearing and observation enabled you to get back into your skin and follow the score to the end. Thanks, OT!

    Like

    Reply
  2. Hank Avatar
    Hank

    For personal reasons, I had to leave after act II, and will not be able to see the third cycle next week as I had originally planned.
    Delavan’s voice, in my ‘umble, just does not have the gravitas needed for the part; and his physical presence is also unimposing.
    In the scene with Alberich, I kept thinking that Alberich sounded more Wotan-ish and Wotan.
    Delavan said in a radio interview a while back that he might some day want to sing Hans Sachs.
    The voice I heard last night would, indeed make a wonderful Sachs–light, pleasant–TOO pleasant for Wotan.
    Delavan should sing Meistersinger now, and wait five years to see if his voice has attained Wotan-like power.
    Just MHO… didn’t hear Stemme; thought Siegfried was okay and got better as the opera moved along. Thought the bird could have been more excitingly sung.
    Thought the set were ridiculous. Just stupid. Not even offensive.
    h

    Like

    Reply
  3. Dennis Graves Avatar
    Dennis Graves

    Given the modest reviews of Morris’ Siegfried in the first Ring cycle, I was prepared to be disappointed. Morris’ voice may lack some of the darkness associated with a classic Siegfried, but it was strong and expressive all the way through in the second cycle. He evidently gained a lot of confidence making it through his first Siegfried and did not hold back in the second cycle. Given the difficulty of this most demanding of tenor roles, I was extremely impressed. Further, his acting was top notch (as the acting generally has been throughout this Ring).
    For comparison, the very paunchy 50-something Siegried in Seattle in 2009 just wasn’t very convincing as a 17 year old youth, and his voice was not quite up to the task. Morris, however, could carry off the youthful illusion quite well and sang beautifully. On the basis of his second cycle performance, I think he has a bright future as a Siegfried.

    Like

    Reply
  4. sfmike Avatar
    sfmike

    Why didn’t you throw that b—-‘s personal effects off of the bench and onto the floor? Or tell the stupid latecomer to STFU? You are a veritable saint, Opera Tattler, to suffer such nuisances with such serenity. I can only dream about emulating you since I would have done all the bad things listed above.

    Like

    Reply
  5. The Opera Tattler Avatar
    The Opera Tattler

    There are just a lot of people who want to see the Ring, and there aren’t a lot of seats left. It actually didn’t bother me that much, just thought I should tattle given the audience is being unusually ill-behaved.

    Like

    Reply
  6. The Opera Tattler Avatar
    The Opera Tattler

    Sorry to hear that you can’t hear Cycle 3, it has been getting better and better.
    I’ve heard that a lot about Delavan, and perhaps you are right, but I like the prettiness of his voice. I would like to hear his Sachs!
    I did not miss seeing Cycle 2 as I read the score.

    Like

    Reply
  7. The Opera Tattler Avatar
    The Opera Tattler

    Agreed!

    Like

    Reply
  8. The Opera Tattler Avatar
    The Opera Tattler

    Tee hee! I was trying to pay attention to the music, Michael. I did tell that late-comer rather peevishly to not talk to me, and even I was a little shocked by that!

    Like

    Reply

Leave a comment