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The Opera Tattler
Reviews of Performances and their Audiences
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The November performances of Madama Butterfly at San Francisco Opera star Daniela Dessì in the title role. Dessì's vocal entrance was muted, at least on the orchestra level, and one could barely make out the lines of her voice. Once she was on stage, she was audible, though not terribly robust. She has a wonderful vulnerability that suits the part and her movements also conveyed the fragility and tenderness of Butterfly. Her "Un bel dì" was pretty.Perhaps Julian Kovatchev did not have many rehearsals before taking over for Maestro Luisotti, who is off to conduct La fanciulla del West at the Met. The playing sounded like the whole piece was marked ritardando, and seemed to grow slower and slower by the bar. The orchestra and chorus were not exactly together. The harp did sound especially lovely, however, the individual contributions of the orchestra members could not save the performance, it was rather dull.
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There was outright commentary during the music in addition to much unwrapping of cough drops.Leave a Reply
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The opening performance of San Francisco Opera’s The Makropulos Case was spectacular. The co-production with Finnish National Opera, from Frank Philipp Schlössmann, is stylish, the set design employs cross-hatching that recalls the work of Edward Gorey. The set is on a quiet turntable that was spun during the first overture. The use of over-sized clocks worked nicely with the main theme of this opera. Olivier Tambosi’s direction was straightforward, only Emilia Marty moved strangely, but given that she is 337, one imagines she may have picked up rather odd habits.The orchestra sounded lucid and intent under Jiří Bělohlávek. The brass sounded particularly fine, especially the off-stage banda in the beginning. The string and wind soli were all lovely. The male chorus at the end of the opera was haunting.
The cast was incredible. Maya Lahyani sounded great as both as the cleaning woman at the beginning of Act II alongside Austin Kness’ stagehand, and the maid in Act III. Brian Jagde was suitably naive as Janek. Matthew O’Neill was completely convincing as the mad Count Hauk-Šendorf, and even charming. Susannah Biller (Kristina) likewise embodied her role, she was awkward and mousy, and her voice sounded young and flexible.
Thomas Glenn (Vitek) fared well, even singing whilst perched on a ladder, twisting himself toward the audience. Both bass-baritones, Dale Travis and Gerd Grochowski, fit their parts. Travis blustered suitably as Dr. Kolenaty. Grochowski showed his range as an actor, and portrayed various emotions vividly through his voice. Miro Dvorsky was fervid as Gregor, but with the right amount of clumsiness to be plausible. Dvorsky had a just brief moments of being overwhelmed by the orchestra in Act I. Karita Mattila was utterly devastating as Emilia Marty, ruthless yet with unearthly beauty. Her movements were oddly graceful and beastly at the same time.
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The curtain came down after the singing in Act I, but before the music ended, and this caused people to clap prematurely. There was some talking in the first half, as Janáček is incomprehensible to some, and the audience attrition after intermission was noticeable. Watch alarms were heard at 9pm.Leave a Reply
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* Notes *
A meal was arranged for a certain pernicious Belgian at The French Laundry. The attendees included the authors of Not For Fun Only, Dig Dug, Something Something This Way Comes, plus the Opera Tattler and Miss LCU. We made our way to Yountville, tasted a bit of wine at the Girard Winery tasting room, took some photographs at The French Laundry's Garden, and had a glass of sparkling wine at Hurley's before heading to dinner. The date happened to coincide with the last game of the 2010 World Series, and the restaurant was abuzz with news of the score. The food was quite lovely, the highlight being the lobster with beet essence and leeks, but the company certainly was the most entertaining part of the evening.* Menu *
"Oysters and Pearls"
Salad of Roasted Cauliflower | Moulard Duck "Foie Gras au Torchon"
Sautéed Fillet of Japanese Medai | "Boudin de Cuisse de Grenouille"
"Beets and Leeks"
Four Sotry Hill Farm Poularde "Kiev"
Marcho Farms Nature-Fed Veal
Beecher's "Flagship Reserve"
Philo Gold Apple Sorbet
"Peanut Butter and Chocolate" | Straus Cream "Génoise"
Mignardises* Tattling *
Our party was rather ill-behaved and loud. At one point Miss LCU started singing the beginning of an aria from Nixon in China, which was taken up by the Belgian. The Opera Tattler tried her best to keep them in line, but Herr Feldheim continued singing said aria despite admonitions. The restaurant burst into applause when it was announced that the San Francisco Giants won the World Series. Dodaro even waved around an article of clothing. We learnt that "The Wave" is called the "Mexican Wave" in Belgium. At one point at least four people at our table did their interpretation of the "Belgian Wave." I felt both proud and horrified that I had assembled such a group of absurd people.Leave a Reply
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The Mutter-Bashmet-Harrell Trio played a program of Beethoven yesterday night at Davies Hall in San Francisco. The performance started with a charming rendition of the String Trio in C minor, Opus 9, No. 3. Anne-Sophie Mutter, Yuri Bashmet, and Lynn Harrell all have a different shape to their playing, but it seemed they had a lot of fun together. Mutter is especially aggressive, and even when playing quietly she has a hard-edge. Bashmet played evocatively, with grace and strength. Harrell produced a warm, expansive sound, but with a lovely restraint as well. The Serenade in D Major, Opus 8 was bright, the Scherzo witty, and the Allegretto alla Polacca provoked giggling. The String Trio in E-flat Major, Opus 3 sparkled.* Tattling *
The audience was confused and clapped after the first movement of the first piece. There was also applause in the middle of Tema (Andante quasi allegretto) con variazione. In the first half, light talking was noted from people in Row J Seats 1 and 3, and Row K Seats 5 and 7 on the Orchestra Level. There was quite a lot of sleeping noted.My companion started to unwrap his cough drop during the first movement of the third piece, but I gave him such a look he was compelled to stop. Upon extracting his lozenge from the wrapper, he proceeded to place the latter on my lap. Of course my incensed expressions only made him laugh all the more.
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Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra's latest program features Vivaldi's The Four Seasons, and the first of five performances under Nicholas McGegan occurred last night at Herbst Theatre in San Francisco. The first piece, Corelli's Concerto grosso Op. 6, No. 11 in B-flat major, was played jauntily but seemed a bit flustered. The Pergolesi that came next, Sinfonia in F Major, went more smoothly. The music shifted from elegant to cheerful with grace. Concertmaster Carla Moore sounded particularly determined.Oddly, the Vivaldi concerti were divided by the intermission. On the whole the sound was bracing, yet jolly. The ensemble bolstered the violin soloist, Elizabeth Blumenstock, who played with great vigor. The violist seemed out of tune for the beginning of the Largo in La Primavera, and Blumenstock herself appeared to struggle with intonation in L'autunno's first Allegro. The beginning of L'inverno was played sul ponticello, and producing a humorous squeakiness, and providing a striking contrast with what followed. Zavateri's Concerto in D Major was verdant, and Durante's Concerto No. 5 in A Major quite vivid.
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Our group of friends was made tardy by a certain latecomer to dinner beforehand. We did just make it in just as McGegan came on stage, who may have noted our appearance as we did have to ask someone to move from our seats. The person next to me in K 112 tapped her foot with the music, and I also heard someone's watch ticking distinctly during the Vivaldi in the first half. Neither of these was a problem in the second half as the people in question disappeared. There was some talking, especially from the man who moved from K 114 to J 112. My companion noted that a person wearing a salmon-colored shirt across the aisle fell asleep.Leave a Reply
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Carlos Kalmar is currently conducting San Francisco Symphony in a program of Schnittke's Moz-Art à la Haydn, Haydn's Symphony No. 97, and Orff's Carmina burana. Last night's performance commenced with the amusing piece by Schnittke, scored for 13 strings and conductor, the ensemble was clear and incisive. The two violin soloists, Alexander Barantschik and Dan Nobuhiko Smiley, were especially good. Likewise, the Haydn was played with a pleasing lightness, with fine contrasts of dynamics and tempi. The rather silly Carmina burana was also played and sung beautifully. The brass was, however, not very pretty during "Veris leta facies." The San Francisco Symphony Chorus, the Pacific Boychoir, and the Crowden School Allegro Chorus all sounded lovely. Both the tenor and the baritone soloists, Nicholas Phan and Keith Phares, sang with animation. Joélle Harvey (pictured, photograph by Arielle Doneson) glistened as the soprano soloist. Her bright, flexible sound was the highlight of Orff's piece.* Tattling *
The Carmina burana Laser Lightshow Appreciation Society attended this event, and were seated in the very last row of Davies Hall. There was talking from the elderly people in Row J Seats 2-10, and a watch alarm sounded from this area during "Dies, nox et omnia." An exceedingly bored child was sitting in Row H Seat 10, he checked his mobile phone many times, talked, left for the Haydn, and became annoyed when he was told he could not leave during the Orff by the person who brought him. I too had the most terrible time taking Carmina burana seriously, the music simply made me laugh, and it was difficult to not disturb some around me.Leave a Reply
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The Venice Baroque Orchestra (pictured left) and Robert McDuffie are currently touring the United States in a program entitled "The Seasons Project." Their stop last night at Herbst Theatre was presented by San Francisco Performances. The evening started with Vivaldi's famous Le quattro stagioni (The Four Seasons), which was played with much energy and joy, but not very cleanly. There were glaring intonation errors. As the soloist and leader, McDuffie hammed it up and certainly was brazen. The second piece, Philip Glass' Concerto No. 2 for Violin and Orchestra (known as The American Four Seasons) came off better. McDuffie's attack was strong, but when called for, he could float over the other instruments beautifully. The influence of Vivaldi was clear in the work, yet it was distinctly by Philip Glass, hypnotically repetitive and vaguely cinematic.* Tattling *
There was much talking during the Vivaldi, but hardly any during the Glass.Leave a Reply
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Whilst the Opera Tattler searched for parking to attend Urban Opera's performance last Saturday, the Last Chinese Unicorn went to the program presented by San Francisco Early Music Society at St. John's Presbyterian Church in Berkeley.
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"Why bother going into the city when there is perfectly good music to be found in Berkeley?" is what I asked myself after the glorious performance by Musica Pacifica with guest soprano Dominique Labelle. The program was comprised of 3 instrumental and 4 vocal sets, the songs having the unifying theme of Love, personified by Cupid with his bow and arrow, as a powerful and unpredictable force and warns us to be on guard for we are at the mercy of his whims.The ensemble was very cohesive, playing as one entity with good balance and a dynamic exchange of dialogue between the instruments. Especially impressive were the Allegri of Sammartini's Sonata in b minor, Op. 1, No. 6. The long, fast runs were executed with precision, there was no rushing or what I like to call "run-aways," yet they did not sound mechanical nor did they lose momentum. Telemann's Quartet VI in E minor was also nicely done with beautiful phrasing and received copious applause and cheering from the audience. Judith Linsenberg played the recorder with purpose and sprightfully bounced at the knees for added emphasis. The violinist Elizabeth Blumenstock was also very expressive in her playing, with emotion emanating from both her body and face. The only thing that could have made the performance better was if Labelle had committed her songs to memory. A little bit of musicality is lost when one is trying to sing while at the same time looking for the note or word that comes next. However her voice is well-suited for this repertoire with a nice blend of weight and brightness.
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The venue was humble and the crowd was unpretentious and very Berkeley. Lots of jeans and sneakers, and I even spied someone in a pair of cowboy boots, a gentleman sporting musical socks, and 2 elderly ladies in Row D Left donning some very interesting headgear à la the Opera Tattler. Actually, perhaps they resembled what the OT and I will look like in 50 years or so. Everyone was on their best behavior. No cell phones went off and there was no audible crinkling of candy wrappers, talking, or hearing aid malfunctions. During the pauses some kids running around outside playing and screaming were heard. The only other disruption was when one of Dominique's large sparkly earrings fell off her ear and on to the floor with a loud clunk. Musica Pacifica did a raffle drawing during intermission and gave away some purple mood pencils (pictured above, they turn hot pink when you grip them – chouette!) in celebration of their 20th Anniversary as a group.Leave a Reply
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Kremerata Baltica is touring North America and performed in Berkeley yesterday as part of the current season of Cal Performances. The first piece, Šerkšnytė’s De Profundis, did not include artistic leader and soloist Gidon Kremer. The playing had much fire, and one could feel an intense commitment to the music from all the players. This fervor continued unabated throughout the performance. Kremer came out for the next five works, all played one after another without pause. They started with Schubert’s Minuet in D minor from Five Minuets and Six Trios, which attacked in an impressively unromantic manner. Pärt’s Passacaglia for Violin Solo and String Orchestra was likewise played savagely. Tickmayer’s Fragment Transcription of J.S. Bach’s St. John’s Passion was rather dry, appropriately détaché, yet still avant-garde. Piazzolla’s Canto de Octubre had more verve, perhaps, and Auerbach’s Sogno di Stabat Mater was vehement. After the intermission we heard Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 14 set for string orchestra by Kremer and Victor Kissine. Though the playing was strong, with a fine legato and charming lilt, the piece, as played by a whole orchestra, was simply puzzling. In fact the entire program was terribly odd. This strangeness carried into the encores, which included Piazzolla’s Michelangelo 70 and E. Toch’s Geographic Fugue. The latter is a vocal work, originally in German, but was translated into English by Kremerata Baltica.* Tattling *
Since it was Hallowe’en, I dressed as Adele from Die Fledermaus, complete with enormous turquoise-colored ostrich feathers in my hair. These were removed for the performance itself. As I replaced said feathers during the intermission I was informed that I was blocking the view of the stage. Perhaps someone else helpful silenced the person making zombie noises during the first two pieces, but this went on quite a long time. A watch alarm sounded several times during the Beethoven.Leave a Reply
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