The Opera Tattler
Reviews of Performances and their Audiences
Month: September 2016
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* Notes * After an absence of over thirty years from the War Memorial stage, a new production of Don Pasquale opened Wednesday at San Francisco Opera. Inspired by Italian comedic movies from the 50s and 60s, the slapstick staging from Laurent Pelly features a charming turntable set (Act II pictured left, photograph by Cory Weaver)…
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Production Web Site | SF Opera’s Blog Reviewers of San Francisco Opera’s Dream of the Red Chamber (Pictured left with Pureum Jo as Dai Yu, photograph by Cory Weaver) agree that the singing is great. Performance Reviews: San Francisco Chronicle | Los Angeles Times | Wall Street Journal | Financial Times | San José Mercury…
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In Act III Scene 2 of Un ballo in maschera, Amelia pleads with Gustavus to flee, but he says “As long as you love me, Amelia, I care nothing for my fate!” Art prints of this painting and three others are for sale at Modern Mouse in Alameda, along with some small format original works.…
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San Francisco Opera has announced the cast for its next Ring cycle (Die Walküre pictured left, photograph by Cory Weaver), which runs from June 12 to July 1, 2018. June 12–July 1, 2018 Evelyn Herlitzius is Brünnhilde, Greer Grimsley is Wotan, Daniel Brenna is Siegfried, and Karita Mattila is Sieglinde. Maestro Donald Runnicles returns to…
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Production Web Site | SF Opera’s Blog Reviews of San Francisco Opera’s Andrea Chénier (Act II pictured left with Yonghoon Lee in the title role, photograph by Cory Weaver) are mixed so far. Performance Reviews: San Francisco Chronicle | San José Mercury News | San Francisco Examiner | San Francisco Classical Voice | Not For…
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Charles Workman (pictured left) replaces Scott Quinn as Albert Gregor in San Francisco Opera's The Makropulos Case, which opens October 14, 2016. Tenor Vincenzo Costanzo will make his United States opera debut as Lt. B. F. Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly replacing Maxim Aksenov. Butterfly opens November 6, 2016. Both Quinn and Aksenov are withdrawing for…
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* Notes *My review of Opera San José's Lucia di Lammermoor is up on San Francisco Classical Voice. * Tattling * There were a ton of cellular phone rings and watch alarms at the Sunday matinée performance on September 18.
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* Notes *Opera San José's latest season started with a solid production of Lucia di Lammermoor last weekend. The cast, especially Lucia (Sylvia Lee as Lucia pictured left; photograph by Pat Kirk), was very strong and the orchestra sounded fine. Ms. Lee has just started in Opera San José's resident company, and based on her…
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* Notes * Bright Sheng and David Henry Hwang's Dream of the Red Chamber had a world premiere at San Francisco Opera on Saturday night. The music was upstaged by the breathtaking stagecraft (pictured in Act I, photograph by Cory Weaver), and marred by an ungainly libretto. Based on the Qing Dynasty epic by Cao Xueqin,…
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* Notes * The 94th season of San Francisco Opera opened last night with Andrea Chénier, Umberto Giordano’s concise verismo piece about the poet killed in the French Revolution. The opera has a number of gorgeous arias, and the cast assembled (pictured in Act I, photograph by Cory Weaver) was certainly up to the task. Especially…
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