The Opera Tattler

Reviews of Performances and their Audiences

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Month: November 2012

  • Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela

    * Notes * Gustavo Dudamel and the Orquesta Sinfónica Simón Bolívar (pictured left, photograph by Scott Grieder) played the first of two concerts at Cal Performances last night. The program the orchestra is touring right now is entitled "¡MUSICA! A Celebration of Music from Latin America," thus featuring, in this instance, Carlos Chávez, Julián Orbón, and…

  • Angela Gheorghiu as Tosca at SF Opera

    * Notes * Angela Gheorghiu (pictured left in Act II, photograph by Cory Weaver) sang her fourth complete performance of Tosca at San Francisco Opera last night. Gheorghiu’s voice seems a bit thin for the role, though her sound does have a lovely, silvery quality. Gheorghiu looks stunning in the various costumes, but perhaps her acting…

  • Joyce DiDonato with Il Complesso Barocco

    * Notes * Last night Joyce DiDonato (pictured left, photograph by Josef Fischnaller) performed with Il Complesso Barocco at the Green Music Center in Sonoma County. The performance is part of DiDonato’s “Drama Queens” tour, which involves a program of Baroque arias in Italian. Beginning with Antonio Cesti’s “Intorno all’idol mio” from Orontea, it was evident…

  • Joyce DiDonato Interview

    Mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato (pictured left, photograph by Sheila Rock) is midway through a tour with Il Complesso Barocco. Their last stop in the United States is tonight at the Green Music Center at Sonoma State University. How did you get interested in opera?I was studying Music Education in college, and could get a bit more…

  • Patricia Racette as Tosca at SF Opera

    * Notes * The second performance of Tosca at San Francisco Opera featured three different principals (Patricia Racette as Tosca and Brian Jagde as Cavaradossi pictured left, photograph by Cory Weaver) to fairly fine effect. Patricia Racette’s portrayal of Tosca is dramatically convincing. Though the timbre of her vibrato always makes this listener uncomfortable, she sings…

  • Melody Moore as Tosca at SF Opera

    * Notes * Last night's opening of Tosca at San Francisco Opera was rather more exciting than expected, given that the 1997 production has been revived three times before. As Tosca, Angela Gheorghiu sang Act I a bit quietly, and was often not with the orchestra. Before Act II, General Director David Gockley announced that Gheorghiu…

  • Philharmonia Orchestra’s Wozzeck

    * Notes * Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Philharmonia Orchestra (pictured left, photograph by Peg Skorpinski) stopped at Cal Performances this weekend as part of a US tour. Last night’s program was a semi-staged version of Wozzeck. The lack of set and costumes allowed the music to take precedence, and the drama of this piece remained vivid…

  • SF Opera’s Community Open House

    Celebrating San Francisco Opera's 90th Season, the Company is hosting a Community Open House today at the War Memorial Opera House (301 Van Ness Avenue pictured left, photograph by David Wakely) from 10:30am to 2:30pm. Events include technical and musical demonstrations with Maestro Nicola Luisotti, the San Francisco Opera Orchestra and Chorus, soprano Melody Moore,…

  • The Tempest at the Met

    * Notes * The Metropolitan Opera, dark for two nights because of Hurricane Sandy, reopened on Halloween with a third performance of The Tempest by Thomas Adès. The production, from Robert Lepage, is enchanting. The piece is set in a version of La Scala, which starts almost as a paper theater, but ends up being rather…