Reviews of Performances and their Audiences
Production Web Site | Press Photographs
Final Dress Rehearsal: Civic Center
Reviews of the First Cast: The Opera Tattler | Not For Fun Only | Out West Arts | Examiner.com | San Jose Mercury | San Francisco Examiner | San Francisco Classical Voice | San Francisco Chronicle | Associated Press
Reviews of the Second Cast: The Opera Tattler | San Francisco Chronicle
Reviews of Ailyn Pérez: The Opera Tattler | Not For Fun Only
* Notes *
Marta Domingo's "Jazz Age" production of La Traviata opened at San Francisco Opera last night. The performance marked the long-awaited return of Anna Netrebko to the War Memorial stage, as she was last here four years ago, singing Musetta in La Bohème. Netrebko did not disappoint as Violetta, her sound is rich and bright, and she has retained her good looks. Her voice has become quite full, and her volume was sometimes overwhelming. She and Charles Castronovo (Alfredo) made for an attractive pair, even though he did sound muted in comparison. Castronovo's tenor is warm and pretty, with very little strain. As Germont, Dwayne Croft did well considering he was recovering from a sinus infection. He rushed during his big aria in Act II, but the fineness of his voice did come through. The supporting cast was perfectly respectable, though perhaps less than arresting. The chorus produced a lovely sound, but were not exactly on beat with the orchestra near the end of Act I. There seemed to be a great deal of asynchrony in general, even for the opening of a new production. There were pleasing individual moments from the orchestra, however, it was not a particularly inspired performance overall.
The staging was artificial and incoherent. The sets for the first and last acts were elegant, very simple, but the Act II sets were overwrought. None of them made a good deal of sense taken together, and I was especially displeased by the return of the blinding disco ball from La Rondine. The costumes were lost, because of the colors used, they just did not read well. None of Netrebko's costumes were flattering, though the gowns were sumptuous with clean lines. Her outfit in Act II was strangely elvin, she looked like an extra from Lord of the Rings. The choreography was sloppy, the dancers were not together, and it was bizarre that they had an Arabic theme for both the Egyptian and the Spanish pieces. Worse yet were the movements of the singers, they looked stiff, like marionettes. There was no dramatic tension in the choreography whatsoever, as evidenced by the falls that Netrebko took both at the end of Acts II and III. Unfortunately, one cannot use a gag like that twice without being trite.
* Tattling *
There was very little talking, and no electronic noise besides some hearing aid squeals. The audience was very taken with Netrebko and seemed highly engaged and attentive.
The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain are playing at the Proms on August 18, 2009. One can even take part.
Production Web Site | Press Photographs
Background: Panel Discussion | Eric Owens Interview | San Francisco Chronicle Preview
Performance Reviews: The Opera Tattler | Not For Fun Only | Out West Arts | SFist | Sac Bee | San Jose Mercury | San Francisco Classical Voice | San Francisco Chronicle | Financial Times
* Notes *
The Schubert/Berg Festival over at San Francisco Symphony ends this week with performances of Berg's Violin Concerto and Schubert's Mass No. 6 in E-Flat major, D. 950. The soloist for the former, Gil Shaham, seemed very immersed in the work, and made frequent eye-contact with the members of the orchestra. Shaham played assiduously, the strings sounded clean, the woodwinds were expressive, and the brass had a warm but muddy sound. The piece itself seemed very constrained and prickly, though not overwhelmingly sorrowful, at least, not in this particular reading.
Last night's performance of Mass No. 6 was this symphony's first. The chorus sounded nice, very together, and not strained in the least. The playing was likewise fine, but without any fire. The five soloists had little actual music, but their voices blended beautifully. Tenor Bruce Sledge sounded more delicate than tenor Nicholas Phan. Laura Aikin's voice, on the other hand, has both heft and a lovely ethereality.
* Tattling *
The amiable Michael Tilson Thomas spoke at length about the Berg piece, and helpfully gave live musical examples. At times, one does wonder about conductors who may have more to say verbally than musically.
There was scattered speaking during the music, especially during the second piece. I even caught myself daydreaming about Spanish cognates to the Latin text of the Mass.
* Notes *
Porgy and Bess had a strong opening last night at San Francisco Opera. Francesca Zambello's production works well, the set, from Peter J. Davison, is particularly striking. The scene changes were nearly flawless and Mark McCullough's lighting impeccable. Having the opera set in 1955 was not at all a distraction, though one is not sure the audience really noticed. Denni Sayers' choreography fit the singers, though the part at end of the hurricane scene seemed gratuitous.
John DeMain lead the orchestra skillfully, and there were only a few moments in which the singers and musicians were slightly off from each other. The singing was very uniform, everyone was fully engaged, and the chorus sounded lovely. Angel Blue (Clara) sang "Summertime" perfectly cleanly, though perhaps a bit coldly. This did make for a nice contrast when Laquita Mitchell (Bess) reprises this song in Part Two. Mitchell also has a clean, brilliant sound, though with a slight metallic harshness at the top. As Serena, Karen Slack was heartbreaking in "My Man's Gone Now."
Lester Lynch was terrifying as Crown, cruel, and with a powerful voice. Chauncey Packer danced his way through the role of Sportin' Life with aplomb, unctous and charming. His "It Ain't Necessarily So" with the chorus was impressive. Eric Owens (Porgy) had a promising role debut, though he did start off underpowered compared to the sopranos. Perhaps he was pacing himself for the end, which was incredible. The plaintiveness of "Bess, o where's my Bess?" built up to a glorious "Oh Lord, I'm on my way."
* Tattling *
The music is much more dissonant than one might expect, yet is put together deftly. The audience seemed absorbed by the work, there was only a bit of talking, but no electronic noise.
At intermission I had the pleasure of meeting Amanda Ameer, author of Life's a Pitch, who represents Eric Owens.
Jonathan Vinocour has been appointed the next principal violist of San Francisco Symphony, starting next season.
Press Release [PDF] | San Francisco Symphony's Official Site
Production Web Site | Press Photographs
Final Dress Rehearsal: Not For Fun Only
Performance Reviews: The Opera Tattler | Not For Fun Only | Iron Tongue of Midnight | SFist | San Francisco Classical Voice | San Francisco Chronicle
Yesterday evening chorus director Ian Robertson moderated a panel discussion on Porgy and Bess, which opens next Tuesday at San Francisco Opera. The panelists included choreographer Denni Sayers, soprano Angel Blue (Clara), soprano Karen Slack (Serena), baritone Kenneth Overton (Frazier), tenor Calvin Lee (Peter), baritone Eric Greene (Jake), tenor Chauncey Packer (Sportin' Life), bass-baritone Eric Owens (Porgy), and conductor John DeMain.
The panelists were asked to speak about the piece, their roles with in it, and the like. It was interesting to learn where the performers had sung before and how they felt about George Gershwin, authenticity, and the possible demeaning nature of the work. The cast seemed to have a strong commitment to this opera.
Maestro DeMain had much to say about Porgy and Bess, unsurprising given that he has been conducting the work for over thirty years. He compared this opera to Boris Godunov, as it too is a "folk opera," and Carmen, as both have dance rhythms throughout. DeMain also mentioned that Porgy and Bess is both a numbers opera and makes use of Leitmotivs.
The production was described by the choreographer, as she has worked on it since the beginning, with the Washington premiere. The stage director, Francesca Zambello, is concerned, once again, with making the work relevant to the contemporary audience. In this case, she has set the work in 1955, bringing us closer in time to the characters.
There were a few amusing moments during the evening. Chauncey Packer spoke about how after a performance someone told him "It's horrible what you did to that girl!" At another point Angel Blue explained that she could imagine singing Bess, as she had nothing in common with the character, to which someone on stage quipped "Not yet."
* Notes *
The summer part of San Francisco Opera‘s season began last night with Tosca. The 1997 production is based on the one that inaugurated the War Memorial Opera House in 1932, and for that reason, is rather old-fashioned. It was interesting to note the differences between the current revival and the last one, for instance, the trompe-l’œil pyramid of cannonballs is gone from Act III, a welcome change.
The orchestra sounded clean and together under the direction of Marco Armiliato, and the tempi moderate. Lado Ataneli was an animated Scarpia, at times he was underpowered vocally, but for the most part, he sounded hale. On the other hand, the tenor, Carlo Ventre, was more delicate. He had a lot of vibrato, which along with his reedy, plaintive qualities, gave him a certain vulnerability. Ventre sounded weak in contrast to the other singers, but was not bad on his own, as in “E lucevan le stelle.” Adrianne Pieczonka (Tosca) had a fine debut, she only had brief moments harshness, her voice is strong and rich. Her “Vissi d’arte” was brilliant.
* Tattling *
The audience spoke a bit too much for my taste, but were mostly under control. I was standing in front of someone who talked, almost at full volume, to himself. At least he spoke about the performance, commenting on how beautiful the singing was. Standing room was rather full, as were the seats on the orchestra level, but the boxes looked relatively empty.
Leave a Reply