The Opera Tattler

Reviews of Performances and their Audiences

SF Opera’s Turandot (Opening Night 2011-2012)

September 10, 2011

* Notes *
San Francisco Opera‘s 89th season opened last night with a revival of Turandot (Iréne Theorin, Marco Berti, and Joseph Frank in Act III pictured left, photograph by Cory Weaver). David Hockney‘s production is as garish as ever, but quite functional, as the sets only move minimally for the scene changes. This keeps the backstage noise negligible, and lighting made for smooth transitions. The choreography was not synchronized, and oddly, the dancers as acrobats made the most glaring errors of this type.

Musically, this performance of Turandot was rather robust, especially in volume. Even still, the orchestra, conducted by Music Director Nicola Luisotti, only occasionally overwhelmed the singers. The playing was florid, but shimmered when necessary. The chorus sounded strong and even.

Our Ping, Pang, and Pong (Hyung Yun, Greg Fedderly, and Daniel Montenegro) were winsome. Yun’s baritone is warm, and for the most part, Fedderly and Montenegro have sufficient brightness to be heard over the orchestration. Raymond Aceto seemed an ideal Timur. Though the staging for his exit with Liù’s corpse in Act III was awkward, Aceto sang with beauty and feeling.

Leah Crocetto (Liù) gave perhaps the finest performance of the evening. Her pianissmi were breathtaking in “Signore, ascolta!” and she sang “Tu che di gel sei cinta” exquisitely. Marco Berti sang Calaf loudly, yet without strain. He sang “Nessun dorma” cleanly, but did not sustain his last note for its full value. In the title role, Iréne Theorin was not particularly sympathetic. Her powerful voice is unsettling, which is appropriate for portraying the cruel princess.

* Tattling *
Opening night’s audience is invariably ill-behaved. The family in front of me in the last row of the balcony, Seats 112-118 passed a pair of binoculars back and forth the entire opera. At least they seemed engaged in the experience. The apparent mother of this family unwrapped a candy for nearly all of Crocetto’s first aria, and spoke during “Nessun dorma” because she was so excited about recognizing the music. Afterward, she said she loved the “theme song” of the opera.

Posted in Leah Crocetto, Nicola Luisotti, Opera Review, San Francisco Opera, Turandot

10 responses to “SF Opera’s Turandot (Opening Night 2011-2012)”

EBrown

September 10, 2011

Turandot is one of my least favorite operas. Last night’s performance has made me rethink this position. Maestro Luisotti managed to transform this opera from a rather heavy and dull war horse into a fleet musical evening. Leah Crocetto’s Liu was so beautiful that the rest of the cast seemed to be inspired by her performance. Sigjnore, ascoltta was a revelation. This young singer showed a depth of feeling and a vocal command that other singers can only dream of (yes, I’m looking at you, Iréne). I have become a bit jaded where David Hockney’s sets are concerned; I was happy when the company retired his Magic Flute. I don’t know if the lighting direction has changed, but last night the sets seemed vibrant and fresh.
I understand that opening nights are about money not music, but entering the house after the opera has begun, as many did after the first and second intermissions, shows a complete lack of courtesy to the artists and people who came to listen to the music. I must say that the people who sat around me were exemplary and contributed to my enjoyment of Turandot.

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The Opera Tattler

September 12, 2011

Turandot is not one of my favorites either. Leah sang beautifully though!

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Sacto OperaFan

September 12, 2011

Hi OT and Friends,
I’m trying to read between the lines – I take it this Turandot is not one for the ages?? I have tickets for the 2nd run. But if Ms. Theorin is the Turandot we’ve been waiting for, I’d buy a 2nd ticket. I trust I am safe to just wait for the November run?
Thanking you in advance.

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Axel Feldheim

September 13, 2011

There is no need to qualify Leah’s performance; she was the star of this particular evening. I’m still puzzled by Berti’s unaccountable cheating of the last note of Nessun dorma. I wonder if he was having a problem that night, though, like you say, everything he did was quite clean.

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Michael Milenski

September 21, 2011

Yes, the lighting brought a new vibrancy, no, Leah Crocetto was not the Liu of your dreams, I mean my dreams, yes this was a good, very good Turandot, best I’ve ever seen. Maybe I could get you to read my discussion on CapSurOpera.com.

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Roberto

September 23, 2011

I went to the 9/22 performance.
First of all, (with all this anti-Puccini going around, I need some courage to admit that) I like Turandot. The choir and percussion always remind me of “Les Noces”.
In overall, this production is as flat as it can be.
A lot have been said about Leah Crocetto. While her Liu was very beautiful with soft high notes, it was not quite orgasmic. It seems like this young singer will have a bright career. All the best to her.
Irene Theorin was a disappointment. I have no idea why she is considered to be the best Turandot at the moment (maybe because she is the only one?). Based on this performance, I have no idea why she sings this role in the first place. She started “In questa reggia” as if she was on the edge. It sounded quite scratchy. The whole aria didn’t make much sense. Her voice is also thicker that I was hoping for. She didn’t show any insight.
Marco Berti was a quite decent Manrico last year. I had a less favorable impression of his Calf. I can’t imagine that someone remembers his “Nessun dorma”. It was uneventful. No legato at the end either.
For me, the real culprit for this boring performance was Luisotti. While the balance of singers and orchestra was incredibly good, Luisotti rushed through the score. Luisotti is a Puccini expert and I don’t intend to know music or Puccini better than him. Maybe he was right and he was playing in the way that the composer wanted. But I prefer a slower approach. With a slower tempo, the music can flourish, it builds more suspense, the singers can breath (musically and dramatically). Maybe the problem with “Nessun dorma” and “In questa reggia”, for what is worth, was not Berti and Theorin, but Luisotti’s fast approach. The orchestra responded well and produced very beautiful sounds.
A special mention to the singers that performed Ping, Pang, and Pong and Raymond Aceto for his Timur.
I agree with OT’s comment about David Hockney’s production: garish and functional. More functional than garish, I should say.

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skippy

September 23, 2011

I wondered too last night who or what might have influenced Berti’s surprisingly unvirtuosic rendition of Nessun dorma. Aceto deserved a bravo, IMO, and I should have been the one to shout it. Crocetto was lovely; the 3P’s, engaging. Theorin was fine. Given what I’ve witnessed at SFO over the past 15 years, I say go see it.

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knights-tale

September 25, 2011

Today’s Sunday matinee of “Turandot” was rather sloppy. Entrance errors, singer/orchestra coordination errors, brass flubs. Things got off to a shaky start when the grand curtain malfunctioned after Maestro Luisotti got the opera started before the ballpark folks were ready. We had to wait for it to be fixed.
That said, Luisotti brought out aspects of Puccini’s orchestration that I’d never heard before, and I know this opera note-for-note. The woodwinds were especially ravishing in the Hymn to the Moon. It reminded me how Act I of “Turandot” might be the best Puccini ever wrote.
No matter what any snobby Puccini-hater says, Puccini was a master orchestrator and his sense of harmony is unmatched. Only Ravel, Wagner, and Delibes beat Puccini when it comes to orchestration and harmony. “Turandot” is a work of genius, sadly left unfinished.
Luisotti was fighting the singers at times, drowning them out at intervals. But it was a propulsive and energetic reading of the score.
Irene Theorin was a vocal mess during “In questa reggia” singing much of it out of tune (can ANYONE sing that aria??).
Then came the Riddle Scene, and she was excellent. Her voice hit notes squarely (the high ones were slam-dunks) and she was devilishly smug at the end when Turandot thinks she’s outsmarted Calaf; for once the Riddle Scene was delicious fun, and not a “I hope she can hit those notes” game.
Act Three saw her on generally ground vocally (the acting was superb). Her pianissimi were astounding. So strange. Soft singing? Check. High notes? Check. In between? Can be iffy.
Leah Crocetto was strong, but I didn’t find her amazing. Patricia Racette remains the gold standard at SF Opera as Liu. Crocetto’s voice is silvery and has power (she was easily heard in “Per l’ultima volta”). Her acting was up and down, but there were definite ups, particularly in Act 3.
Now the tenor. Why oh why does SF Opera hire Marco Berti? There was Irene Theorin acting her heart out in Act III and Marco Berti couldn’t even bother. I find him infuriating and a frightful bore. He goes from looking disinterested to looking bored. His sound is generic. He scoops into the high notes with great abandon.
For the past 15 years, SF Opera simply engages tenors who can get through the roles as opposed to embody them. The exceptions I can think of: Juan Diego Florez, Vinson Cole, Thiago Arancam, Sergey Larin, Clifton Forbis, Brandon Jovanovich, James Valenti, Piotr Beczala, Marcello Giordani, Marcus Haddock, and Peter Seiffert. That’s not a lot in 15 years.
Ping, Pang, and Pong were great fun and, as always, they were cast perfectly (SF Opera has a great history of casting these roles well). Raymond Aceto as Timur was serviceable but dull (and didn’t look nearly old enough).
Hockney’s production looked great (having toured the set before the show, it’s amazing how beat up it is up close and how ravishing it is from the audience). It remains the best production of “Turandot” I’ve ever seen, the best in the world, and Hockney’s best work. He actually understood that the opera is a fractured fairy tale, not to be taken as realistic. The dramatic foreshortening and the off-putting colors tell much of the story without even a need for the libretto and music. It rivals Michael Yeargan’s “Rigoletto” and Paul Brown’s “Tannhauser” as the company’s best production.
All in all, it was a mixed bag. But as it’s my favorite Puccini (maybe my favorite opera) it’s nice to see it again after ten years. Why revive “Butterfly” umpteen times and “Turandot” once every decade?

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Ben

November 23, 2011

I just saw this tonight, and Leah Crocetto’s “Signore ascolta” was transcendent. I wept. Nothing else in the production mattered.

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William Ennis

March 17, 2012

Well Ladies and Gentlemen, it’s a mixed blessing to be in the company of fellow opera lovers. On the one hand there’s a shared passion for works of great beauty. This should lead to a sensitivity that is above and beyond what most people who do not understand the beauty of opera would have. On the other hand, there is the unavoidable tendency to NIT PICK until all the beauty within a performance is gone. One would assume if someone is in attendance of a performance that they at least like if not love the music. Still, reading some of these critiques that would be hard to imagine. I personally love TURANDOT more than any other opera. Why? Because I do, I love the music. The story is soap opera and irrelevant. The singing and staging touch me. What is my favorite performance? Well, Pavarotti and Sutherland and Caballe. However, Pavarotti and Sutherland are both DEAD. Birgit Nilsson is dead. I will not diminish the talent that EVERY PERSON ON THE STAGE HAS by comparing them to an “ideal”. I attend the opera to be entertained and moved. How could I have left with anything less? The music was great, the singing was fine, the staging was what it was (yes, I prefer Zefferelli, thank you) but overall, there was nothing to complain about. Everyone in that audience got a great night of culture and were exposed to some extraordinary singing. We should all be proud to be able to perform a work this complex to the level it was done.

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