The Opera Tattler

Reviews of Performances and their Audiences

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  • Capriccio at the Met

    Capriccio-renee-fleming An account of Capriccio this season at the Metropolitan Opera from the Unbiased Opinionator.

    * Notes * 
    “Indian Summer” is used by music historians to describe the re-flowering of Richard Strauss’ creative powers toward the end of his life, after the catastrophe of World War II. This re-flowering, which occurred after a period of jaded stagnation, was Strauss’ response to the destruction of German culture during the Nazi period. One of the loveliest of the works from this period is the opera Capriccio, one that he and his librettist, Clemens Krauss, subtitled “A Conversation Piece for Music.” Strauss died seven years after the premiere of Capriccio in Munich in 1942.

    “Conversation Piece for Music” is certainly apt. Much of the first part of the work, performed without intermission, is given to extended passages of complex, sung “conversation,” consisting of witty debate on the subject: which is more important, text or music? Only the poet Olivier’s sonnet, “Kein Andres, das mir so im Herzen loht” (created in the conceit of the opera by the composer Flamand) is set by Strauss to linear, memorable music. Both poet and composer vie for the love of the Countess Madeleine, sung with luminous beauty and acted with simple grace by Strauss-veteran Renée Fleming, who is, as was Kiri Te Kanawa in her day, a wonder in this repertory.

    Olivier’s and Flamand’s courting of the Countess is set by Strauss as a metaphor for the tug of war between music and text. In the concluding scene, the Countess cannot decide between these two elements, but concludes that only a perfect wedding of music and text can satisfy, and she sings her glorious final scene, based on the musical material of the Sonnet, as a hymn to the mystery and artistic power of this synthesis.

    During the opening prelude, an intimate string sextet (played beautifully by the Met first desk string players) is heard. The Met curtain was illuminated in a soft golden light, with house lights dimmed, but still lit at a low level, and the chandeliers were not completely raised to the ceiling, but remained at “half-mast,” at half light, creating a atmosphere of burnished gold which set the stage for the sensitive rendition of the Opera to follow.

    There were no weak links in the cast. Joseph Kaiser’s Flamand had plenty of carrying power, with a fine top, and the tall tenor cut a fine figure. The poet Olivier was sung by Russell Braun. Peter Rose’s portrayal of the pompous theater director, La Roche, was aptly blustery in the finest buffo style. The part of the actress Clairon was sung by English mezzo Sarah Connolly. This reviewer has long admired the work of this fine singer, and she did not disappoint, with her dramatic flair, rich vocal color and tall and striking visual presence.

    The many secondary roles, including the comic roles of the Italian Singers (admirably sung with perfect timing by tenor Barry Banks and soprano Olga Makarina), and a luxury cast of Servants, including Met veteran Christopher Schaldenbrand, added to the extremely high quality of the evening. The character roles of the Major-Domo (Michael Devlin) and the prompter (Bernard Fitch) were wonderful facets in the finely jeweled clockwork that is Capriccio.

    Andrew Davis led the Met orchestra in a warm and balanced account of the score, with the only possible criticism being a too fast tempo for the opening prelude.

    * Tattling * 
    The soaring, evanescent music of the concluding scene seemed to transfigure the audience, and one exited the theater into a beautiful Spring night, with the Lincoln Center fountain dancing in the soft air. This reviewer walked home amid blossoming ornamental pear trees and felt as if he had drunk the finest champagne in the world.

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  • Daveda Karanas’ Schwabacher Debut Recital

    MathildeWesendonck-1850 * Notes * 
    Mezzo-soprano Daveda Karanas gave her Schwabacher Debut Recital, accompanied by pianist Allen Periello, yesterday evening. The program was designed around Wagner’s Wesendonck Lieder, which ended the performance. To begin we heard songs from Liszt, all on themes related to the source texts of Der Ring des Nibelungen. Likewise, Peter Heise’s Gurdruns Sorg is a Danish translation from The Poetic Edda. Karanas has a high, powerful voice with fine technique and lucid diction. There is a pleasantly metallic quality to her singing that never comes off as harsh. She is, however, not a natural actor, and there seemed to be a disconnect between the meaning of the words and how they came through her body. In contrast, Periello was expressive, but kept a subtle balance between piano and singer. “Wanderers Nachtlied” was especially stately, and Wagner’s “Träume” was cloud-like and floating. Karanas seemed to light up from inside for the encore, “Lorelei” from Gershwin’s Pardon my English.

    * Tattling * 
    I was recognized as the Opera Tattler for the second time in as many days.

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  • Daniel Catán

    Opera composer Daniel Catán died yesterday in Austin, Texas. He was 62.

    NPR | Biography

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  • The Creation at PBO

    Pbo3 * Notes * 
    Nicholas McGegan and Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra end the season with five performances of The Creation by Haydn. Last night's offering in Berkeley was gratifying and jubilant. McGegan kept the proceedings vivacious, and only a few moments were chaotic, most evident in the end of Part II. The dynamics throughout were distinct. The chorus had a translucent sound.

    The three soloists were obviously talented. Baritone Philip Cutlip was easy to understand and could always be heard. His duet with soprano Dominique Labelle in Part III was playful and winsome. Labelle sang pleasantly, and was never shrill. Her sturdy voice was only lost briefly in the "The marv'lous work beholds amaz'd," which is sung with the chorus. Her trills in the first aria of Part II ("O mighty pens") were most impressive. The tenor, Thomas Cooley, sang with ease. His bright voice did not sounded pressed when singing high notes, and his diction was clear. One particularly appreciated his pianissimo in the recitative "And God created man."

    * Tattling * 
    The audience members in the first three rows seemed rather quiet, only intermittently giggling at the jolly text.

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  • Vänskä conducts Larcher, Mendelssohn, & Vaughan Williams at SFS

    Vanska_hi_res * Notes * 
    This week Osmo Vänskä conducts San Francisco Symphony in a program of Larcher, Mendelssohn, and Vaughan Williams. Thomas Larcher's eerie, cinematic Red and Green required a large number of instruments, yet was played with tasteful restraint. The sound was never overpowering, even when two of the trombone players hit their instruments with sticks. The brass sounded clear. The dynamic contrasts were impressive. Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E minor, Opus 64 featured concertmaster Alexander Barantschik, who was comfortable playing with the orchestra, and listened to the other musicians intently. It was a subtle, elegant rendering. The two horns and two trumpets were together, and were not muddy. After intermission came A London Symphony from Vaughan Williams. The piece ranges from atmospheric to gaudy, but was played well. The horn solo in the second movement Lento was strong, as was the solo violin in the third movement Scherzo.

    * Tattling * 
    Last night there was some whispering during the first San Francisco performance of the Larcher, but the composer received hearty applause and even a "bravo" when he came to the stage. A watch alarm was heard at 10pm near the end of the Vaughan Williams. I was particularly ill-behaved during this piece, for some reason, I lack the maturity necessary to control my laughter. The Big Ben references made me titter. Unfortunately, I lost my composure when the person in Section E Seat A 9 of the First Tier put her shoeless (but stockinged) foot up upon the railing.

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  • Das Rheingold at the Met (Lepage)

    Met-rheingold An account of the final performance of Das Rheingold this season at the Metropolitan Opera from the Unbiased Opinionator.

    * Notes * 
    Director Robert Lepage gave an extensive interview in New York City last fall about his conception of the Ring. He spent considerable time in Iceland, and said that no one who lived in the Icelandic hinterlands for any length of time could ever doubt the existence of gnomes, giants, or mythic Gods. Hearing him speak, it is impossible to doubt his seriousness and integrity.

    Unfortunately, the production's stage machinery, designed by Carl Fillion, seemed to overwhelm the evening. The set consists of gigantic, undulating planks, which morph into visually paradoxical, Max Escher-like planes. Complex, computer-generated effects and lighting were projected atop this. Only Wagner's gigantic score seemed unsubjugated by this restless behemoth. Particularly distracting were the all-too-visible cables from which the soloists were suspended as they moved in hazardous sideward and slanted trajectories across the cantilevered components of the set.

    The audience applauded and tittered in delight at the cavorting Rhine-mermaids and their taunting of Alberich, and certainly Wagner would have approved of this. The dragon/dinosaur transformation, aided by the Tarnhelm, was also very effective.

    Of the cast, Eric Owens' tremendous Alberich dominated the show, even though he seemed to tire during his final curse. It is a rare evening when Alberich is a more powerful dramatic and vocal presence than Wotan. The admirable Bryn Terfel's rendition of the God lacked the heft and thrust required of the dramatic bass-baritone voice type for which this role was conceived.

    Stephanie Blythe, a singer in a class unto herself, poured out tremendous waves of sound, yet failed to capture the hectoring character of Fricka, as she agonizes about the fate of her sister Freia (sung with steely power by soprano Wendy Bryn Harmer), who is held as a downpayment by the giants Fafner and Fasolt for their building of Valhalla. Ms. Blythe seemed to fashion her vocal expression according to the surface contours of Fricka's vocal line, and not to the underlying text. Beautifully, in fact, overwhelmingly well sung, her rendition seemed lacking in dramatic comprehension of the character.

    On the other hand, Bayreuth veterans Gerhard Siegel (Mime) and Hans-Peter Koenig (Fafner) inhabited their roles in such a fashion that one never thought of vocalism. They performed their roles with a perfect unison of text, powerful vocalism and dramatic intent. Patricia Bardon's dark-hued, threatening rendition of Erda's "Weiche Wotan" was, for this reviewer, the highlight of the evening.

    Another Bayreuth veteran, Arnold Bezuyen, captured the essence of Loge, part scheming diplomat, part crooked lawyer, although one was often distracted and concerned for him as he slid down and then scaled backwards the steeply angled set. Tethered by a cable, his freedom to gesture and act with his body was severely inhibited. Possessed of a solid character tenor voice, he seemed somewhat underpowered in the large Met auditorium.

    Having heard many performances of the Ring conducted by James Levine, it is difficult for this reviewer to make a fair assessment of Fabio Luisi's reading. Luisi drew from the Met orchestra an almost chamber music-like, transparent performance that served the singers well, but one missed the elusive combination of weight, grandeur and forward momentum that Levine achieved in this music. The brass section was uncharacteristically fraught with mishaps.

    No doubt the composer would have been delighted to have had at his disposal the modern machinery used in the Lepage Ring, machinery which would have freed him from the two-dimensionality of the set design and lighting available to him at the time. One wonders, however, if he would not have employed these resources in such a way that the protagonists of his music-dramas were not relegated to the visual and dramatic background. One awaits eagerly the upcoming Walküre for a further assessment of the new Met Ring.

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  • ABS performs Bach and Telemann

    ABS2_W * Notes *
    The American Bach Soloists performed secular works from Bach and Telemann last Saturday in San Francisco. The evening began with the "Wedding Cantata," with soprano Yulia Van Doren as the soloist. Her voice as a darkness to it, yet maintains a clarity of tone. She was pleasant to hear, though she did not always cut through the orchestration, and her German was not particularly comprehensible. The ensemble was clean, if not a bit dry, with Jeffrey Thomas at the helm as usual. The basso continuo (cello, harpsichord, and bass) was exceedingly together and pristine. The Telemann that followed, the Concerto in G Minor for Recorder, was fleetly lucid. Cantata oder Trauer-Music eines kunsterfahrenen Cararienvogels was sung with deadpan seriousness by baritone Joshua Copeland, whose diction was fine, and whose voice was robust and warm. The unison of the orchestra was especially pleasing during the fifth aria.

    After the intermission we heard the fourth Brandenburg Concerto, a piece I must have played on the modern viola, for the tuning of this historically informed performance was unsettling to me. The final piece was the charming Schweigt stille, plaudert nicht ("Coffee Cantata"). Thomas did well with the tenor part of the Erzähler, though the musicians may have not been perfectly together in the last trio. Van Doren (Lieschen) had lovely phrasing, but her vowel quality was noticeable compared to both Thomas and Copeland (Schlendrian). That said, the three singers played well off each other, and the performance was even fun.

    * Tattling *
    The woman in Row P 201 of the balcony was one of the most disruptive audience members encountered in recent memory. Not only were we regaled with tales of her 1.5 month long summer romance with a 25-year-old named Brian (apparently too immature) and adventures in purchasing gas (apparently too expensive), we learned she applied to a position at ABS and was there as a guest.

    Naturally, her mobile phone rang during "Weichet nur, betrübte Schatten." She also talked during most of the first piece, until a glare reduced this to whispering. At intermission she stepped over me twice, and she and her companion (a coworker) moved to the side balcony to be more comfortable. The woman used her phone during the music, though did not speak into it, at least. At one point she bounded up, and stamped out of the hall, and after a few minutes she returned to stamp back to her seat.

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  • SFCM’s Dialogue of the Carmelites

    Dialogue-of-the-carmelites * Notes *
    SFCM Opera Theatre presented Poulenc’s Dialogue of the Carmelites, in English translation, last weekend. Michael Morgan held the orchestra together, and for the most part, the orchestra and singers were on beat. There was some raggedness in the brass and woodwinds, and the music certainly did not sound easy. Whatever was used for the scored guillotine noises at the end was not convincing, and were inappropriate to the grave proceedings.

    However, the Saturday performance was ambitious, and even moving. Much of the singing was strong, and everyone was clearly working hard. The direction, from Richard Harrell, had nearly every moment filled with some sort of movement. Peter Crompton’s sets moved easily to switch out the scenes, and Kate Boyd’s lighting also helped out with this. The costumes from Maggie Whitaker fit the narrative.

    * Tattling * 
    There was some whispering, but the worst offenders left at one of the two intermissions. At the first intermission, a rather loud man started off a conversation with “I am not a racist but” and then went on to say he could not accept person in one of the contralto roles because of her race, it did not make sense to him how she could be cast. He went on to say he could not imagine San Francisco Opera making such a casting “error,” but was corrected by his companion, who gently said that casting does have to do with vocal type. One wonders what this person would have thought of Jessye Norman as the New Prioress, which she has sung to no small acclaim.

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  • Yuri Temirkanov conducts the St. Petersburg Philharmonic

    Yuri-temirkanov * Notes * 
    The Sunday performance of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, conducted by Maestro Yuri Temirkanov in San Francisco, was sold out. The program of Rimsky-Korsakov, Shostakovich, and Brahms held together well. The orchestra played with dark warmth, perhaps a bit sloppily, but with confidence. Rimsky-Korsakov’s Russian Easter Overture No. 3 with dignity and cheerful bluster, in turns, as appropriate. Next came Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 1, with cellist Alisa Weilerstein. Weilerstein played with ungenial violence, and it was exceedingly clear that she was the soloist. Her timing was good. She did break a string in the last movement, and scuttled off to replace it, carefully carrying her long red gown so that she did not trip. The Fourth Symphony of Brahms that followed the intermission was chaotic at times, but very charming. The encore was “Nimrod” from Elgar’s beautiful Enigma Variations.

    * Tattling * 
    The audience was fairly quiet. There was some trouble keeping the music on the first stand of the First Violins during the Brahms.

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  • NY Festival of Song Schwabacher

    Blier * Notes * 
    The artistic director of New York Festival of Song, Steven Blier, gave a Schwabacher Debut Recital yesterday evening. Entitled Amores Nuevos, the program consisted of Spanish art songs, zarzuela arias and duets, Latin American art songs, and Latin American popular songs. As one would expect, Blier played piano for these selections, with David Hanlon joining in when four hands were required.

    Baritone Austin Kness sang "Cómo quieres que adivine" with warmth and good volume. Though funny, "La mujer de los quince a los veint"e from La tabernera del puerto came off less well. In contrast, tenor Daniel Montenegro sounded somewhat cold in "Si con mis deseos." His pleasant, reedy voice was shown to better advantage in "De este apacible rincón de Madrid." The soprano, Sara Gartland, emoted throughout her pieces with conviction. "Me llaman la primorosa" was particularly charming. Her voice is strong and piercing, and though a note or two that strayed off pitch, her presence more than made up for this.

    Kness did well with "Despierta, negro," sounding grave and serious. Gartland, Montenegro, and Hanlon made up an able ensemble for the piece. Gartland and Montenegro also sounded lovely in the duet "Caballero del alto plumero" from Luisa Fernanda.

    * Tattling * 
     Steven Blier told us many amusing stories before he played. I had the good fortune to be a guest of the whistling voice of Woodstock at this recital. I was very sorry to leave at intermission, but I was scheduled to hear the Saint Petersburg Philharmonic an hour and a half after the Schwabacher began.

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