The set of Das Rheingold is still not working properly.
The Opera Tattler
Reviews of Performances and their Audiences
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* Notes *
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater gave a series of performances in Berkeley last week. Program A included the West Coast premiere of Hope Boykin's Go in Grace, which features live music from Sweet Honey in the Rock. In principal, live music and live dance together seems like it would be great. In practice, having the singers on stage was distracting, at times they obstructed the audience's view of the dancers. Go in Grace is a distinctly narrative work, and one felt all the words were getting in the way of the dancing. George Faison's more light-hearted Suite Otis was stronger, the segments that went with "I Can't Turn You Loose" and "Satisfaction" were particularly vital.Program C was overwhelmingly Baroque. Mauro Bigonzetti's Festa Barocca was amusing, though I admit I was disoriented as they danced to a recording of Andreas Scholl singing "Va tacito" and "Dove sei." Hope Bodkin was particularly good, her hand and arm movements were gorgeous. She was also hilarious, as her role called for. Hans van Manen's Solo featured music from Bach. The three dancers were absolutely wonderful.
All the programs ended with Ailey's breathtaking signature work, Revelations.
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The audience talked a bit, and there were many flashlights and mobile phone screens on during the dancing. The 50th anniversary film about the company that was played was a bit too much like an infomercial. The person in BB 2 kicked my arm with her bare foot during the Saturday evening performance.Leave a comment
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San Francisco Symphony gave a concert of Gabrieli, Ligeti, Ravel, and Liszt last Friday. In ecclesiis from Gabrieli's Symphoniae sacrae was lead by chorus director Ragnar Bohlin. The piece sounded both clear and lovely. Michael Tilson Thomas took over for Ligeti's Requiem, an eerie work in which both wails and hives could be detected.Martha Argerich was the soloist for Ravel's Piano Concerto in G major, she played crisply and charmingly. The piece has a martial flair but is rather light. The concert ended with Tasso, Lamento e Trionfo from Liszt, which struck me as maudlin but not unenjoyable.
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The audience was fairly quiet. MTT was his usual talkative self, mentioning Rilke, Bellini, Fra Angelico, Brian Wilson, and Freddie Mercury.Leave a comment
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New Century Chamber Orchestra gave a series of performances featuring Russian composers. The first half of the evening began with Prokofiev’s Visions Fugitives, with soloist Anne-Marie McDermott at the piano. The brief piano pieces were rather romantic and impressionistic, the string orchestra arrangement by Rudolf Barshai worked well. McDermott launched directly into Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in C minor, with trumpet player Adam Luftman accompanying her along with NCCO. The Shostakovich was markedly more amusing than the Prokofiev. Both McDermott and Luftman played cleanly. The second half consisted entirely of Souvenir de Florence from Tchaikovsky. The piece was thoroughly enjoyable, the strong rhythmic patterns certainly held the attention.* Tattling *
There was some whispering, and far too much applause between the movements of the last piece. The motor patterns of NCCO’s music director, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, are rather unusual, even a bit disquieting. One is impressed she can produce such sounds from her violin using the particular motions she does.Leave a comment
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Pocket Opera opened the 2009 season with Offenbach's La belle Hélène last month in Berkeley, with subsequent performances in San Francisco. The production was almost cloyingly sweet. Everyone was perfectly adorable, especially the charming pianist and narrator Donald Pippin. The musical values were appropriate for the small venue. Megan Stetson certainly made for a beautiful Hélène, though her voice perhaps lacked richness.* Tattling *
The audience whispered a good deal. I had my fill of Offenbach for the week and decided not to hear Berkeley Opera's Tales of Hoffman.Leave a comment
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November 6-15 2009: Carmen
February 4-7 2010: The Turn of the Screw
March 12-23 2010: Ariadne auf Naxos
April 23- May 4 2010: IdomeneoPress Release [PDF] | Official Site
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* Notes *
The Conservatory Baroque Ensemble of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music gave a delightful student performance of Rinaldo last Saturday. The vocalists were very fine, and Rinaldo's "Cara sposa" was sung particularly well. The musicians were not always perfectly together, exposed as they were by the smallness of the group and, simply, the music itself. The soloists switched off by act, they were all quite talented, but the playing did lack cohesion.The production was unintentionally hilarious. It was clear they had no budget and were left to their own devices as far as stage direction. Armida's minions moved in a peculiarly awkward way, though so did the sirens in Act II. The most amusing bit was also in Act II, just after a scene that involved ungainly arm swaying. When Armida takes on the appearance of Almirena, she simply brings a mask (aloft on a stick) to her face.
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The audience laughed a great deal, sometimes at the super-titles and sometimes at the production. One gained a greater appreciation for how difficult pulling together an opera is, especially a Baroque opera with such a thin and confusing plot.Leave a comment
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September 9 2009: Gala with Lang Lang (Liszt, Ravel, Rodgers, Prokofiev)
September 10-12 2009: Liszt, Ravel, Rodgers, Prokofiev
September 16-20 2009: Susan Graham sings Rückert-Lieder, Mahler's 1st
September 23-26 2009: Thomas Hampson sings Mahler
September 30- October 3 2009: Scelsi's Hymnos, Mahler's 5th
October 7-10 2009: Brett Dean, Haydn's 94th, Brahms
October 11 2009: Murray Perahia, piano
October 14-18 2009: Bach's Violin Concerto No. 2, Elgar, Tchaikovsky's 6th
October 22-24 2009: John Adams' Slonimsky's Earbox, Tchaikovsky, Dvořák
October 28-31 2009: Beethoven's 8th
October 31 2009: Nosferatu (1922 film)
November 6-8 2009: Rachmaninoff's The Bells, Rachmaninoff's 2nd
November 12-14 2009: Detlev Glanert, Schumann, Sibelius' 5th
November 18-20 2009: Bach's Brandenburg Concertos 3-5
November 20-21 2009: Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
December 3-5 2009: Holiday Concert
December 9-12 2009: Beethoven's 5th
January 7-10 2010: George Benjamin, Debussy, Mendelssohn's 3rd
January 14-16 2010: Ravel, George Benjamin, Messiaen
January 20-23 2010: Yo-Yo Ma plays Shostakovich's Cello Concerto No. 2
January 26 2010: Yo-Yo Ma, cello and Emanuel Ax, piano
January 27-30 2010: Stravinsky's Pulcinella
February 3-6 2010: Schubert's Mass No. 2, Ives' A Concord Symphony
February 10-13 2010: Walton's Violin Concerto, Holst's The Planets
February 18-20 2010: Haydn's Cello Concerto No. 1, Beethoven's 3rd
February 21-22 2010: Gewandhaus Orchestra of Leipzig
February 24-26 2010: Mozart's 36th, Bruckner's 6th
March 4-7 2010: Christian Tetzlaff, violin
March 7 2010: Ravel
March 11-14 2010: Mahler's 2nd
March 20 2010: Dawn Upshaw, soprano and Emanuel Ax, piano
March 21-22 2010: Mariinsky Orchestra
April 1-3 2010: Grieg's Piano Concerto in A minor, Shostakovich's 8th
April 7-10 2010: Rufus Wainwright's Five Shakespeare Sonnets
April 15-17 2010: The Gold Rush (1925 film)
April 17-18 2010: Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra
April 21-24 2010: Mozart's 35th, 41st, Mendelssohn's Piano Concerto No. 1
April 25 2010: Emanuel Ax, piano
April 29- May 1 2010: Schumann's 4th, Zemlinsky's Lyric Symphony
May 5-8 2010: Thomas Larcher, Beethoven, Brahms
May 10-11 2010: Los Angeles Philharmonic
May 13-15 2010: Litolff, Chopin, Adam, Bizet
May 19-23 2010: Stravinsky, Ravel
May 27-29 2010: Robin Holloway, Mozart, Schumann
June 10-13 2010: Mozart, Berg, Beethoven
June 17-19 2010: Yuja Wang, piano
June 23-26 2010: Berlioz's Roméo et JulietteThe San Francisco Symphony announced the 2009-2010 season today. Susan Graham and Thomas Hampson both sing Mahler this September. Guest conductors include Simon Rattle, Gustavo Dudamel, and Valery Gergiev.
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* Notes *
Anne-Sophie Mutter gave the US premiere of Sofia Gubaidulina's second violin concerto, In tempus präsens, with San Francisco Symphony, conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas, yesterday. The piece was played again tonight, and has a shimmering, yet compressive quality, filled with bumblebees and crickets. Mutter played cleanly and with much vigor. The violas, cellos, and basses sounded lovely, as did the percussion section, particularly the gong. It was a bit difficult to hear the harpsichord, even though it was amplified. The trombones and tuba sounded strangely sputtering, though this is probably not due to their skills as players.The second half of the program consisted of Ravel walzes, first the rather dull Valses nobles et sentimentals, which were played nicely. La Valse, on the other hand, was exuberant, both delightful and wry.
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The audience was well-behaved, though there were quite a few fidgety children present.Leave a comment
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July 10-12 2009: Schwabacher Summer Concerts
July 24-26 2009: L'Amico Fritz
August 7-9 2009: Così fan tutte
August 22 2009: Merola Grand FinaleTickets go on sale for Merola productions to members on March 16, and to the general public on April 1.
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The Opera Tattler 
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