The Opera Tattler

* Notes * 
The hit of the summer at San Francisco Opera is Rusalka (Act II pictured, photograph by Cory Weaver), which opened a week ago on Father's Day. Right out the gate, the orchestra sounds utterly lush, the set is mysteriously beautiful, the costumes elaborate, and best of all, the singing is fantastic all around.

David McVicar's production is all you could want, a dark fairy tale come to life. The set has visual impact, but the scenes switch seamlessly, there are no pauses. My only quibble was that some of the set changes are slightly loud. The choreography from Andrew George is nicely integrated with the opera, working equally well on the singers and dancers.

Maestra Eun Sun Kim conducted an energetic orchestra.  The brass is quite clear. The harp certainly gets a work out and sounded absolutely lovely. The piece is rather sweeping and Wagnerian, but the singers were never drowned out by the orchestration.

It was difficult for me not to compare this opera with Pelléas et Mélisande, as they are from the same time period and both deal with enigmatic women found near water. As much as I love Debussy's work, many of the characters in Rusalka are rather more human, showing a range of emotions.

The powerhouse cast is splendid and has a lot of volume. The wood nymphs, soprano Natalie Image, mezzo-soprano Simone McIntosh, and mezzo-soprano Ashley Dixon were charming.  Mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton is a delightfully grotesque Jezibaba. Her low notes ring out as clearly as her upper range.

As water goblin Vodnik, Kristinn Sigmundsson shows emotional scope often absent from the performance of a bass, all those dads just sound authoritative. Sigmundsson can, to be sure, sound angry, but has a more mournful side too. His singing in Act II was particularly plaintive. Tenor Brandon Jovanovich gave a beautifully nuanced performance as the Prince. He went from in love to deceitful to desperate, and showed all manner of colors and shades in his voice.

Soprano Rachel Willis-Sørensen (pictured in Act I, photograph by Cory Weaver) made me question how this part could have suited Renée Fleming so well, the singers are just so different. Willis-Sørensen is not delicate, she has a dark power and a lot of volume. Her voice can be brilliantly ethereal. Her "Song to the Moon" is gorgeous, her anguish in Act II so palpable, and her deep empathy in Act III heartbreaking.

* Tattling * 
After yet another weekend of coughing fits, wheezing, and lethargy that caused me to miss the opening of Rusalka, it turns out I have bronchitis. It felt amazing to be at the opera this past Saturday night without having to choke back coughs, since I am now on the appropriate medications after seeing the doctor last Monday morning.

Standing room back in the balcony was much more crowded than usual. There was some light humming and watch alarms. Especially annoying was a mobile phone ringing when Willis-Sørensen sings toward the start of Act III.