* Notes *
Eun Sun Kim conducted the San Francisco Opera Orchestra (pictured, photograph by Kristen Loken) an all-Richard Strauss program last night. The orchestra had a shimmery sound with a lot of clarity, Kim gets lots of nuance and color from the musicians. It makes one look forward to her forthcoming Ring Cycle. The concertmaster for this performance was Maya Cohon, and she played beautifully, as did all the strings.
The brass sounded quite clear, especially horn player Kevin Rivard, who sounded particularly lovely in the tone poem Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks. The woodwinds also did well, I always like how the first oboist and first bassoon sound, but they all sounded strong in Der Rosenkavalier Suite. It was fun to hear all the tunes of this opera condensed down into less than an hour. This was the U.S. premiere of the arrangement from Philippe Jordan and Tomáš Ille
Soprano Kathleen O’Mara sang Four Last Songs with a lot of ease. She was a last minute replacement for Adela Zaharia, who was to perform the Bretano Lieder, and the printed program reflected the previous casting. To b;e completely honest, I was more focused on the orchestra, which perhaps is fitting for a concert that highlights these musicians.
* Tattling *
The audience was more attentive than the average opera audience, and I noted only light talking and no electronic noise.
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