San Francisco Opera's Facebook page has photographs of the contestants for the Ring costume contest that occurred on Sunday. If you "like" San Francisco Opera on Facebook, you may even vote for your favorite costume. Whichever photo gets the most "likes" by Friday at 12 pm will win a production photo from Die Walküre signed by the cast.
The Opera Tattler
Reviews of Performances and their Audiences
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Henry Purcell's "When I am laid in Earth," from Act III of Dido and Aeneas, has been named the UK's favorite aria, based on a BBC poll.
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Michael Tilson Thomas just finished conducting San Francisco Symphony in a program of Wagner, Berg, and Beethoven. The Overture to The Flying Dutchman sounded lovely, and the brass were fairly clear and sounded nice. The second piece also had to do with opera, and the Suite from Lulu was dense and lush. Soprano Erin Wall made an admirable attempt to be heard over the heavy orchestration, and something about her icy voice does penetrate over the din. It was not very easy to hear which words she was singing, however. The second half of the performance consisted of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto, with James Ehnes as the soloist. The orchestra was spirited, the principal cello and viola were particularly fine, as were the woodwinds. The quiet parts of Ehnes playing were exquisite and plaintive.
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There was some quiet talking during Saturday’s performance in San Francisco, but not very much. A cellular phone was heard right before Beethoven.Leave a Reply
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San Francisco Opera is holding a costume contest today before the matinée performance of Die Walküre. The contest involves dressing up as characters from Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen. The judges include David Gockley, Kristina Flanagan, Christopher Verdosci, and Terri Stuart.The potential for utter ridiculousness seems pretty high here. Though sophisticates such as John Marcher and Axel Feldheim are certain not to partake in such silliness, I will be making some sort of attempt to participate.
Press Release [PDF] | San Francisco Opera | WSNC
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The only Berkeley Festival and Exposition event I could attend this year was a harpsichord recital played by Eugene Petrushansky. The afternoon performance began with Bach's Toccata in F#, BMV 110, which I missed entirely due to my tardiness. I managed to hear all of the Suite in B Minor from Matthias Weckmann, which sounded clear and passionate. This was followed by two Sonatas by Domenico Scarlatti, K 133 in C Major and K 175 in A Minor. The first had an almost circus-like aspect, the second had an appealing percussive quality. Petrushansky made a good case for Froberger, playing Suite in C Major and a miniature suite. The constrasts in tempi were particularly fine.* Tattling *
The audience was quiet and attentive. I believe I was the least well-behaved person there, given that I was late.Leave a Reply
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Die Walküre had a stunning opening last night at San Francisco Opera. There was never a dull moment from the orchestra pit, and Donald Runnicles kept the tempi apace, and rarely overwhelmed the singers. There were some notes that were out of tune or not perfectly clear from the brass, but for the most part, the sound was warm and full. The singing was intensely beautiful. The Walküren included many current and former Adlers and Merolini: Maya Lahyani (Siegrune), Tamara Wapinsky (Helmwige), Wendy Bryn Harmer (Gerhilde), Daveda Karanas (Waltraute), Suzanne Hendrix (Schwertleite). Joined by Priti Gandhi (Rossweise), Pamela Dillard (Grimgerde), and Molly Fillmore (Ortlinde), they sounded hearty.
Raymond Aceto was a mean little bully as Hunding, perfectly appropriate for the role, he did not sound heroic at all and was very believable. Janina Baechle likewise filled the role of Fricka rather perfectly. Mark Delavan did well as Wotan, his voice is pretty, though perhaps slightly light. Christopher Ventris sang Siegmund with conviction, and sounded lovely with Eva-Maria Westbroek as Sieglinde. Ventris sounded somewhat ragged by the end of Act I, but sang Act II gorgeously. Westbroek had a lot of power, and very little strain. Nina Stemme was also incredible, she has a wonderful control of her voice, and her timbre is pleasing.
Francesca Zambello‘s production, on the other hand, was at best inoffensive. The projections, designed by Jan Hartley, started off with a watery screen saver and then took a turn toward The Blair Witch Project. The repeated use of lightning was painfully cliché. The sets, from Michael Yeargan, are serviceable enough. The first scene was exceedingly predictable, one could see right away that the front of the house would lift up and the sides would come apart. The second half of Act II looked very familiar, I believe Bayreuth’s current Ring has a freeway scene as well. The third act was a crowd pleaser, and while I enjoyed the absurdity and theatrics of parachuting Walküren, it did not seem appropriate to distract from the orchestra at this point in the music.
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The audience was fairly attentive, though the women in Row T Seats 5 and 7 of the Orchestra Level spoke at two points during Act II, both times when the orchestra was playing. They did not return for Act III. There were some watch alarms at each hour, but they were not close to me, and I could barely hear them. There was an electronic sound, either a phone, watch, or hearing aid, that intoned a noise as Siegmund sang about the circumstances of how he lost his weapons. There were also shrill noises during when Siegmund sings about Sieglinde (“Ist es der Blick der blühenden Frau”). I could not tell if they were coming from the stage or behind it.
John Marcher was kind enough to take me to this performance, and we happened to sit next to Lisa Hirsch, who has, charmingly enough, tattled on herself. SFMike was seen at the intermissions, as were many others.
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San Francisco Opera‘s latest production of La fanciulla del West (The Girl of the Golden West) opened last night. The production, directed by Lorenzo Mariani and with sets from Maurizio Balò, is cute without being busy or cluttered. The male chorus sounded fine and the ensemble cast did well. The waltz in Act I was particularly lovely. Current Adlers Brian Jagde (Joe), David Lomelí (Harry), Austin Kness (Handsome), and Maya Lahyani (Wowkle) all had respectable appearances. Nicola Luisotti held the orchestra together, creating a luxuriant sound.
Timothy Mix was tender and vunerable as Sonora and Roberto Frontali threatening as Sheriff Jack Rance. Salvatore Licitra’s voice was very sweet and warm as Ramerrez. A few of his highest, loudest notes showed some strain, but for the most part he had a nice ease. Deborah Voigt’s Minnie was spunky and full of spirit. She has a bit of a tinselly quality, lacking the warm creaminess she had in former years, but overall she was quite winsome.
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The press department did end up giving me tickets for this performance. The volunteer usher in front of us in Row L Seat 23 used her cellular phone as a flashlight to read the program during Act I. After the first intermission, an audience member was sitting in that seat, and the usher insisted on seeing the ticket. The audience member could not produce it and stormed off. It was not clear exactly what transpired, but the usher did not return to L 23, and the audience member sat in K 17 with her friends instead.
Though not constant, there was too much talking during the music and the singing.
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Gounod’s Faust opened at San Francisco Opera last weekend. I had briefly entertained the idea of driving back from Southern California where I was seeing LA Opera’s Ring for this, but decided it would be too disruptive to both my schedule and state of mind. Even at Tuesday night’s performance, it was a bit odd to have left the world of Wagner for this frilly, pretty piece. Robert Perdziola’s production, directed here by Jose Maria Condemi, is straightforward, with attractive sets and amusing surprises as far as staging. The chorus was not handled with particular deftness. The chorus did not sound precisely together, and the way the entrances and exits were choreographed in Act I Scene 2 did not help. However, the off stage choral singing “Sauvée! Christ est ressuscité” was lovely, and the playing was especially fine here too. Maurizio Benini had the orchestra sounding appropriately frothy and nice, and perhaps a bit hazy.
As usual, Catherine Cook acted the comic role of Marthe convincingly. Current Adler Fellow Austin Kness sounded boyish, and Daniela Mack even more so as Siébel. Although Mack’s vibrato could be a bit much, her “Faites-lui mes aveux” came off well. Baritone Brian Mulligan sounded absolutely wonderful as Valentin, his “O Sainte Medaille” was the highlight of Act I, and his music at the end of Act IV was poignant. John Relyea sleekly embodied Méphistophélès, his voice remains very rich, and his acting is strong. On the other hand, Patricia Racette was less persuasive as Marguerite, somehow all her wobbling did not project youth or naïveté. Her Jewel Song bordered on the grotesque, though her rendition of “Il était un roi de Thulé” was less unsightly. Racette seems more believable as a fallen women, so by the end her Marguerite, crazed and in despair, was moving. Stefano Secco was a pleasant enough Faust, his voice has volume without roughness. Something about the way he hits the high notes gave me the sensation of watching someone hoisting a sail with great effort.
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Standing room was not crowded, and there was not much to say about the audience in Act I. After the first intermission I was given a ticket for the first row of the Grand Tier, on the aisle but near the center. Talking aloud was heard from a certain person in A 101, but in my immediate vicinity, the audience was quiet.Leave a Reply
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The first cycle of LA Opera’s Ring Festival concluded with Götterdämmerung last night. James Conlon kept the orchestra at a controlled pace, and the volume was never overwhelming. The brass was not terribly secure, even sounding chaotic at times. The horn calls were respectable, albeit very careful and slow. The chorus sounded lovely and together, even whilst fluttering their hands and doing choreographed stretches. The Norns were ominous, with Jill Grove sounding slightly strained, Michelle DeYoung sweet, and Melissa Citro a tad shrill. The Rheintöchter were enticing: Stacey Tappan (Woglinde), Lauren McNeese (Wellgunde), and Ronnita Nicole Miller (Floßhilde) did well. Jennifer Wilson sang Gutrune with silvery ease, while Michelle DeYoung was a jarring Waltraute.Richard Paul Fink was sinister as Alberich, ruthless but in the end helpless. Eric Halfvarson (Hagen) sounded merciless, his full, rich voice was still very beautiful. Alan Held was quite loud as Gunther, he sang without strain. Linda Watson remained dignified as Brünnhilde, her upper register can be harsh, but she conveys the emotional content of her text clearly. John Treleaven had a rough, quiet start, improved, but then had some trouble with the end of Act II. He pulled through for his last scene.
Achim Freyer‘s production was a continual delight, his vision carried through to the very end. Though not focused on the human aspects of the narrative, his ideas are clearly reasoned and fully committed to throughout. I was particularly amused by the enormous red bendy straw shaped into a triangle that was the thread of fate, and by the red balloons that were lowered on wires, then lifted, then popped at the end of Act II. Hagen’s very special garage door opener that blinked and flashed in different colors was also highly entertaining. On a more serious note, the staging for when Siegfried takes on Gunther’s shape was very effective, and more convincing than any of the others I have seen.
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The orchestra level was more crowded than during Siegfried or Die Walküre, and the talking was not as loud. The usual watch alarms sounded at each hour. Someone was crinkling a plastic bag during the last two acts. The man in Row M Seat 12 booed loudly at James Conlon, and screamed “Go back to school, read the score.” There were also boos for the production team, but these too where mostly drowned out by cheers.LA Opera’s marketing department sponsored a Tweetup Meetup with Jon Caves, Philip Horváth, Cody Melcher, Katherine M. Talley, and various others. We went to the press reception and got to go back stage to meet Maestro Conlon. We also ran into Achim Freyer, and I managed to speak with him a little, even getting out a few words of German. To my great delight, I found some of my favorite opera fans hanging around back stage as well, including Dr. Tamara Sanikidze, currently an Adler Fellow.
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Siegfried was performed yesterday as part of Los Angeles Opera's Ring Festival. James Conlon kept the orchestra sounding fairly restrained, the brass continued to have rough patches, but the singing and playing was more synchronized than in the first two operas. Stacey Tappan shimmered as the Waldvogel, her fluttery voice is suited to the role. Jill Grove sounded rather nice as Erda, earthy but not overly pretty. Eric Halfvarson's Fafner was remarkably sympathetic, especially in his death scene. Graham Clark likewise was fine as Mime, his voice is bright, his acting was clear and strong.Again, both Richard Paul Fink (Alberich) and Vitalij Kowaljow (Wotan) continued to impress, embodying their roles with vigor. The two leads fared less well, though both were maddening in that sometimes their voices were extraordinarily lovely. Linda Watson could sound harsh as Brünnhilde, but her "Heil dir, Sonne! Heil dir, Licht!" was splendidly beautiful. John Treleaven also could sound brilliant and sweet, but more often he was just getting through this very difficult music, and was still standing at the end, at least.
Achim Freyer's production is consistent in its absurdity. The dragon was especially hilarious, it looked like a tiny puppet on wires, and had plumes of red lights attached to its mouth. One imagines that we are seeing Fafner from Siegfried's fearless point of view here. Siegfried is a clowns around, and his buffoonery is on full display. Though flawed, he somehow did not seem very human, so it was a bit hard to relate to him. Also, the way Fafner's wounding was staged was somewhat confusing if one has not read the libretto, given that the beast we see is so small.
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The talking was at a minimum for Act I, though a cellular phone rang during the overture. More electronic noise followed in the middle act, a watch alarm rang at least 20 times. There was much speaking from the audience in Act II, and the person next to me in Row H of the orchestra had to implore the woman and girl behind him to be silent. They apologized during the second intermission, and were silent the rest of the opera. Unfortunately this was not the case for the German-speaking couple closer to the middle of Row J, they spoke openly without the slightest bit of embarrassment.There was a press reception that I had the pleasure of attending. Evidently Quentin Tarantino was also present.
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