The Opera Tattler

Reviews of Performances and their Audiences

SF Opera’s Lohengrin

October 21, 2012

* Notes *
Lohengrin opened at San Francisco Opera last night. The production is new to the house, and has been seen in Geneva and Houston. Inspired by the Hungary of 1956, the action takes place within what looks to be a library. Designed by Robert Innes Hopkins, the set (Act I pictured left, photograph by Cory Weaver) makes for clear transformation of scenes, especially with the lighting from Simon Mills. The costumes, also by Hopkins, are sharp. Director Daniel Slater fills in the narrative nicely, and Act II is especially thoughtful.

In contrast, Maestro Luisottti had a more painterly style with the music. The orchestra had a vivid sound, but could have had slightly more focus. The tempi of the musicians in the pit did not always match those on stage. The chorus sang with full-blooded vigor, making up for the moments of asynchronicity.

It seems that San Francisco Opera is on a roll with casting this season. Brian Mulligan made for a rich-toned King's Herald. Kristinn Sigmundsson sang Heinrich der Volger with strength, and the quality of his vibrato works better for Wagner than the Mozart we heard on the War Memorial stage last summer. Gerd Grochowski convinced as the conflicted Friedrich von Telramund, though his voice has no small beauty to it.

Petra Lang seemed pitchy, but this did not detract from her Ortrud. Her voice has a certain voluptuousness to it, her carriage and movements are impeccable. Camilla Nylund sounded rather sweet and ethereal as Elsa. Her highest notes did not sound as pretty as the rest of her voice, reminding me of something in-between tinsel and glass. However, this made her fall all the more believable. Brandon Jovanovich had a triumphant role debut as Lohengrin. His voice is vibrant with a good deal of volume. He did sound the most sublime when singing softly.

* Tattling *
The audience was quiet and attentive, at least on the orchestra level. There was surprisingly little audience attrition between acts. There were also very few people in standing room.

Posted in Brandon Jovanovich, Lohengrin, Nicola Luisotti, Opera Review, San Francisco Opera

9 responses to “SF Opera’s Lohengrin”

Roberto

October 21, 2012

While the Robert Innes Hopkins/Daniel Slater production is mostly inoffensive, I wouldn’t have any idea that we were in 1956 Hungary if I hadn’t read the program notes. Despite that, it is a production that treats this opera and – that’s important – the audience with respect. They may not had the best ideas in the world but at least they tried. The result was coherent, well conceived and somehow inspired.
I was really glad when I saw that Brandon Jovanovich would sing the title role when the season was announced earlier in the year. I was taken aback by his Sigmund last year. He is giving an interesting twist in his career. It is not very often that we see spinto tenors transitioning to heldentenor. Jovanovich once again had a strong performance. Although there is was a problem with the soft passages, when his voices turned to be nasal and disturbing. This is a problem that I have with many tenors at that house. Maybe the problem is me, the War Memorial acoustics or the tenors. I remember that I had the same problem with Jovanovich when he sang Pinkerton here a few years ago. Once again, this is a common problem that I have with tenors there and has always puzzled me.
Camilla Nylund and Petra Lang are Wagner/Bayreuth veterans. Camilla Nylund has the perfect physical attributes for Elsa. She is tall, young with long blond hair. She is a good actress and her voice is pretty as it should be. But it is on the light side of the spectrum and yesterday she could not sing over the orchestra. She always seemed to be on the edge. Maybe she is more comfortable in the smaller venues of Europe.
I cannot believe that I read mixed reviews about Petra Lang from her performance in Europe. Yesterday she was a scary Ortrud and vocally sublime, Her powerful highs reminded me Chista Ludwig. This is a singer that I would love to see again.
Gerd Grochowski is another smart singer. He put his heart on Telramund. Kristinn Sigmundsson still needs to match the charisma that he showed when I saw him in the movie theater singing Baron Ochs on a Met simulcast a few years ago.
The fact that this was the first time that Luisotti ever conducted Wagner is simply amazing. The orchestra sounded like it was lead by a Wager expert. The balance was perfect in the soft passages. The woodwinds were crisp and the overall reading was focused and detailed. The only problem was on the fortissimos like the prelude of the third act, for example, when the violins could not compete with the brass.
I never saw in a recent memory the War Memorial with so many open seats as yesterday, I would say that at least 15% of the seats were empty.
Lohengrin is a tough opera. I was never into that plot. The fact that after one minute that the guy meets the girl, he asks him to marry her and even put as condition that she is no supposed to know anything about his past and not even his name was always too much to me (even if I am used to opera plots). Having said that, an opportunity for us to see Lohengrin with a decent cast doesn’t happen too often, For that reason alone, I think that people should see it. Just take some caffeine in the intermissions and you will be fine.

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sfguy0909

October 23, 2012

Brian Mulligan was just awful- he cannot act- his vocal was great-
but flouncing around the stage, trying to be arrogant but just coming off as a prancing gay guy. Not cute.

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Mark gates

October 24, 2012

Is there a phantom of the opera in Lohengrin? If there is I will fly there first thing in the morning.

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Lilacrobin

October 24, 2012

No phantom Mark..just the spirit of Pamela Rosenburg inhabiting David Gockely with these trashy productions of Capuletti and Lohengrin… thank goodness the singing has been sublime!
♥ Robin ♥

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The Opera Tattler

November 1, 2012

I cannot wait to hear this one again.

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The Opera Tattler

November 1, 2012

He did flounce, but I assumed that was what he was supposed to do.

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The Opera Tattler

November 1, 2012

Great to see you at the opera, as always, Robin. See you soon!

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Caribguy

November 4, 2012

I am an opera fan but not fanatic. I enjoy the medium and go when I can afford to do so. Having recently relocated to the bay area again I attended opera in the ball park for the first time and one of the results was the 50% ticket discount. I bought tickets for Capulets and Lohegrin and Tosca. For the first time in my 20 year opera going history I left before the end of the opera. For me first and foremost opera is about the singing. I cannot state enough how I hate this “new” transition away from singers to productions. So much time and money is now spent on “updated” or “smart” production intended to supposedly bring “fresh” ideas and “new” insights with results that are often freakishly nightmarish and do very little to expand the opera audience. Perhaps the reason that some many seats were empty and I would about 25% of the seats in the rear balcony last night were empty was because folks heard of the ridiculous production. I can never understand why one would update an opera production to a time period when guns are used but an important part of the opera’s plot calls for a duel with swords. It’s just plain silly. I enjoyed the singing by all last night and this was my first time seeing Lohengrin. Plot aside everyone did an amazing job except for Mr. Jovanovich who started to sound weary toward the end of act II and an annoucement was made prior to act III that he was feeling ill but would continue the performance. I was involved in the story until the scene of the bridal chamber/room or Act III. WTF? Perhaps someone can let folks know that people sit in the balcony and rear balcony. Maybe it’s the 47% that the opera house doesn’t care about. My retinas are still recovering from the blinding under the floor fluorescent lighting. This was the most ridiculous piece of opera production I have ever seen and this includes the hundreds of video clips on youtube. When the curtain went up a good portion of the audience burst out laughing and rightly so. Lohengrin and Elsa looked like Ken and Barbie on top of a wedding cake that would be seen on an episode of “Jersey Shore”. I kept thinking any minute now those squares are going to start flashing to represent some obtuse production insight. Who in their right mind would think this was a good idea? The blinding light prevented those in the balcony and perhaps anyone who was not sitting the orchestra from seeing the close interaction between the two singers. And forget about trying to read the supertitles. (The projection TVs were not used). I left after that seen as I had enough plus I decided I wanted to ge on the 11:15 Bart train. I am guessing no one from the direction, production or management teams sat in the balcony during a dress rehearsal and if they did they are experiencing the “The Emperor’s New Clothes” effect where no one wants to appear stupid and the result is that audiences get punished with an increasing amount of non sense called new and updated productions. I am yet to meet an opera audience member who went to an opera primarily because the production was great/new/updated. I do however meet ton of opera audience member who go because of certain singers. If productions are so darn important why not just advertise the production, don’t mentions the singers and see who shows up. Let’s put the singing back in opera.

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fluorescent lights

January 24, 2013

Very wonderful. I think what they have done is just amazing. They are making use of something that really fits into their line of work which is excellent brand of lighting. Kudos! Anyway, I think it would be nice for me to see some of these operas.

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