Apparently Dan Brown attended the this season's opening of La Scala, a performance of Carmen, and mentioned that he could imagine the opera house as a setting for his writing.
The Opera Tattler
Reviews of Performances and their Audiences
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Marino Formenti's recent performance at Los Angeles Philharmonic convinced me to get a ticket for his performance of Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant-Jésus in Berkeley yesterday, although I neither like nor understand Messiaen. Unfortunately, it turned out that I had to return to Southern California on Saturday morning for personal reasons, but was able to goad someone into taking the ticket I had purchased. As it happened, I arrived back in Berkeley in plenty of time for Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra's holiday performance. In fact, I was so early I was able to to over to St. John's where Formenti was playing to meet up with some of my favorite bloggers at the recital. I had thought it was unlikely I could go into the hall, since there was probably no intermission.I was surprised to be able to hear some of the music from outside of the building, and when I entered the lobby, the person selling tickets asked if she could help me. Seeing the sign that said there was no intermission, I remarked that the piece had gone on for an hour already, declined buying a ticket, and sat in the hallway to wait for my friends. From what I could tell, I was missing a great performance, Formenti's playing is so appealing. I could only hear the forte bits of the music, as I was sitting by a rather loud water heater.
I do not know how long I was there before the ticket seller came up to me and said something about it being unfair that I was listening to the music and had not paid for a ticket. This was completely discombobulating to me, and I found I really had no response. I had been listening to what was audible to me, and maybe I should have paid for half a ticket, as she suggested, for sitting in a hallway. I did say in no uncertain terms that I was not going into the hall, as I think that would have been unfair, to disrupt the performance whilst it was going on. The person was placated when I told her I was waiting for friends that were in the hall. However, perhaps she has a point, I did listen to snippets of Formenti playing Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant-Jésus, and to that end, I have made a nominal donation to San Francisco Performances. I also have a strong suspicion that I will not attend a performance presented by San Francisco Performances this season.
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The Tallis Scholars started their latest US tour in Berkeley yesterday evening. The first half of the program consisted of Josquin's Missa De beata virgine, which was sung with remarkable clarity. The nine singers were perfectly synchronized under the direction of Peter Phillips. After the intermission we heard impeccable singing of Nesbett's Magnificat. Only seven of the singers took part in the Tunes for Archbishop Parker's Psalter by Tallis, yet they still produced a great deal of sound. Three pieces from Byrd with the full ensemble followed: Ye sacred muses, Tribulationes civitatum, and Vigilate. The singing was gorgeous, the voices blended together beautifully, and the tempi were crisp.* Tattling *
There was electronic noise at the beginning of the performance, some talking, a little more whispering, and a wailing hearing aid. All of this more or less subsided in the second half.Leave a Reply
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Last night Berkeley Symphony played a program of Steven Stucky, Sibelius, and Stravinsky. The program was quite coherent, the pieces all hung together well, each having a certain ethereality. The orchestra shimmered under Joana Carneiro, though perhaps lacking precision, the musicians did produce a lovely, hazy sound. Stucky's Radical Light started off almost like white noise, and was generally inoffensive and rather pretty. Its relationship to Symphony No. 7 of Sibelius that followed was clear. Likewise, "Elegy" from August 4, 1964 was harmless enough, and not unattractive as a piece. Stravinsky's The Firebird Suite glittered as the finale of the performance.* Tattling *
There was very little whispering, at least at the sides of the orchestra level, where there also were not that many people.Leave a Reply
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The final performance of the year for San Francisco Opera was Verdi’s Otello last Wednesday. The orchestra continued to sound fine, especially the woodwinds. Luisotti’s interpretation of the music came through, his choices in tempi and dynamics were strong. The chorus also did wonderfully. Vocally, the performance was consistent with the opening, Renée Tatum (Emilia) and Eric Halfvarson (Lodovico) stood out in the smaller roles. Beau Gibson was quiet as Cassio, and Marco Vratogna (Iago) was also a little thin vocally. Zvetelina Vassileva (Desdemona) had good volume but a great deal of vibrato in her highest notes. Her voice is, however, not unpleasant. Johan Botha sang beautifully, but his stage presence is lacking, and the audience openly laughed at him at the end of Act III when he sings “Quella vil cortigiana ch’è la sposa d’Otello.” Perhaps the supertitles were to blame.
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The audience ill-behaved. For one thing, some of the technical staff were about, and I heard their talking aloud, and their walkie-talkies. Someone read The Hobbit during the overture of Act III, oblivious to the fact that he was blocking my light for reading the score. The same person rustled a plastic bag, but at least had the good sense to leave after Act III. Some else snored loudly on the middle bench of the back balcony throughout Act III, naturally the only one with light back there.Leave a Reply
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Last Sunday Il Barbiere di Siviglia opened in a matinée performance at Los Angeles Opera. The orchestra sounded unfocused under Michele Mariotti, often not with the singers. As Fiorello, José Adán Pérez sounded fine, as did Kerri Marcinko (Berta). Andrea Silvestrelli was an amusing Don Basilio, his throaty, resonant tones were spot on. Bruno Praticò looked and acted convincingly as Doctor Bartolo, but could not always be heard over the orchestra. both lacking heft and fullness.Nathan Gunn (Figaro) moved so well, and he really has the physicality to pull off the humorous choreography in this production. His voice seemed just a little thin, especially for a baritone. Juan Diego Flórez was perfectly sweet as the Count, never straining. He started off slightly quiet, but seemed to warm up as the afternoon progressed. On the contrary, Joyce DiDonato (Rosina) was wonderful from the beginning. Full of sass, she sang with a gorgeous ease and good volume, but not overwhelming anyone else.
Emilio Sagi's production, directed by Javier Ulacia, was certainly informed by The Wizard of Oz, starting off monochrome and ending in lurid colors. The scenic design, from Llorenç Corbella, was perhaps overly precious. It was all terribly cute, especially Doctor Bartolo's tiny dog.
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Everyone on the left side of Handrail Obstructed Balcony B was quiet, no talking, hardly any whispering. Unfortunately there was talking from the center, and of course, cellular phones rang during Act II, some more than once, even though we had all been reminded to turn off our electronic devices.Leave a Reply
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Ensemble Parallèle's Artistic Director and Founder Nicole Paiement is giving a musical presentation about Berg's Wozzeck and a behind the scenes glimpse of the upcoming production. Bojan Knezevic and AJ Glueckert will offer musical examples and director Brian Staufenbiel will be on hand for a question and answer session on staging concepts.
This event occurs on December 10 at 6:30 p.m. at San Francisco Conservatory of Music (50 Oak Street, San Francisco) and is followed by a reception. Seating is limited and responses will be counted on a first come, first served basis. One should contact Lucik Aprahamian at lucik25@gmail.com or by phone 831 252-0573.
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On Friday Gustavo Dudamel conducted the Los Angeles Philharmonic in a program of Esa-Pekka Salonen, Lou Harrison, and John Adams. The Salonen is heavily orchestrated in the manner of much contemporary music, with a plethora of percussion, including six bongos and four tom-toms. Dudamel kept the volume to non-deafening levels, even if the brass did have harsh moments. The Piano Concerto from Harrison that followed had significantly fewer orchestra members on stage. At times it seemed that the soloist, Marino Formenti, and the orchestra were not playing in the same piece. This kept the music quite interesting, in any case. Formenti's playing was appealing and sensitive, yet could be brutal.City Noir had a world premiere at LA Phil last month, but John Adams was in attendance nonetheless. The work has nearly twice as many sorts of percussive instruments as the first piece. The musicians seemed together and engaged, the viola solo in the second movement was particularly fine, as was the trumpet solo in the last movement. If nothing else, Dudamel certainly conveyed excitement.
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There was no whispering or talking in the Terrace View, and very little noise in general from this section. Coughs could be heard throughout the hall. It was remarkable to see how few empty seats there were, given that the program consisted entirely of new music.Leave a Reply
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Yesterday evening Tamerlano had the third of five performances this season at Los Angeles Opera. William Lacey had the orchestra sounding uncharacteristically crisp, serving the music well. Most of the singing was of a high standard, only Ryan McKinny (Leone) and Jennifer Holloway (Irene) did not stand out, both lacking heft and fullness. Sarah Coburn sounded and looked pretty as Asteria, though her vibrato could be excessive. She sang her Act II aria, “Se non mi vuol amar,” nicely. Patricia Bardon cut a fine figure as Andronico, and the warmth of her voice was pleasant. She too sang with rather too much vibrato for this sort of music. Plácido Domingo (Bajazet) sounded surprisingly lovely, even if the music does not particularly suit him. Domingo seemed only slightly fragile, his timing imperfect, however, his timbre is beautiful, so sweet. In the title role, countertenor Bejun Mehta had a fresh effortlessness, his volume strong, without sounding strained or constricted.The production, directed by Chas Rader-Shieber, was a somewhat silly. The most unintentionally hilarious bit was in Act II when Tamerlano took Bajazet’s long brocade coat and wore it over his suit in an apparent fit of tyranny. David Zinn’s scenery was clean and his costumes elegant. Best of all was the lighting from Christopher Akerlind, understated at first, and building up to the last act, which featured red reflected off of the black floor rather dramatically.
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There were some mobile phone rings, most disruptive in Act III, during the recitative between Tamerlano and Bajazet. The couple in H 75 and 76 of Balcony B would not stop talking during Acts I and II, despite my repeated attempts to express my displeasure with their noise levels. The male half of this couple had a bad cold and snorted about 25 times in the first act, and I was sure they would not return after the first intermission. They did come back, only to litter cotton swabs and tissues all over the ground around their seats, and to take photographs of Domingo. Their camera emitted various high-pitched sounds during the music. I asked to be reseated after the second intermission, and the ushers were very accommodating and helpful.Leave a Reply
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Leoš Janáček's final opera, Z Mrtvého Domu (From the House of the Dead) had a third performance at the Met last Saturday evening. The production marked the debuts of both conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen and director Patrice Chéreau in this house. The austere staging featured a monolithic grey set from Richard Peduzzi, yet was not static as there was much movement of people and stage elements, not to mention some startling effects with massive amounts of paper. The incorporation of the supertitles into the set was cunning, though unfortunately prone to technical difficulties, in this case an error message was displayed prominently at the end of the opera. Also, the choreography could be rather too loud, a distraction from the music.Salonen had the orchestra under control, producing a beautiful sound that supported the singers. There were only a few harsh, muddy moments in the brass. The ensemble cast was well-rounded. Tenors Stefan Margita (Luka/Filka Morozov) and Kurt Streit (Skuratov) played off each other at the end of Act I, both have fine, but distinct, voices. Streit sang quite mournfully in Act II, with good volume and warmth. In Act III, baritone Peter Mattei portrayed Shishkov with conviction, his desperation and anguish were evident.
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The back of the Family Circle had rows of empty seats, and by the time the music started, only two people were in standing room.Leave a Reply
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