The Opera Tattler

Reviews of Performances and their Audiences

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  • Warren Jones Master Class 2008

    * Program *
    “Per me giunto” from Don Carlo
    Young Joo An, baritone and Allen Perriello, piano

    “Sgombra è la sacra selva” from Norma
    Natasha Flores, mezzo-soprano and Alan Hamilton, piano

    “La donna è mobile” from Rigoletto
    Nathaniel Peake, tenor and Dennis Doubin, piano

    “Tu che di gel sei cinta” from Turandot
    Rena Harms, soprano and Carl Pantle, piano

    “Chi il bel sogno di Doretta” from La Rondine
    Amanda Majeski, soprano and Eileen Downey, piano

    * Notes *
    Pianist Warren Jones gave a master class for the Merola Opera Program yesterday. He gave amusing introductions to each piece. With each person he went over various weaknesses, including pitch, diction, and posture. Jones sang much more than one would expect, his voice is quite nice. It was very interesting when Jones went over portato, telling the singers they should ask a string player to demonstrate when they have a chance. His comparison of German to Italian was also entertaining, comparing the pronunciation of “alles” to “tutti.” With German one takes each sound one by one, but with Italian one makes the consonants within the vowels. His advised the apprentice coaches to attend to their first three fingers while accompanying singers, rather than their pinkies, as solo pianists do. It was impressive how quickly Jones was able to get results from the singers and pianists.

    * Tattling *
    Mr. Jones is rather witty, he was especially funny when he told one singer “you have to whack them on the head with fabulousness.” When he was demonstrating how to sing “s” in Italian and then made the singer at hand repeat it, he asked someone to tell him if the sounds could be heard in the back. When the person responded in the affirmative and added that Jones’ “s” was louder, he quipped “It always is because I’m tasteless.”

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  • Final Dress Rehearsal of Ariodante

    Copleysinging * Notes *
    If the final dress rehearsal of Ariodante last night was any indication, I will likely go to as many performances of it as possible. The cast is strong, of course Susan Graham and Ruth Ann Swenson are wonderful, but debuting Sonia Prina, Veronica Cangemi, and Richard Croft are not disappointing either.

    The orchestra sounded pretty good, the brass section was slightly rough at times, but not as much as in the premiere of Das Rheingold. Patrick Summers took the tempi quite fast. The style of playing was appropriate for the type of music at hand.

    The production certainly looks like it is from the 80s, which can be pleasantly absurd, but more discussion on that after the opening, which is, incidentally, Sunday, June 15th.

    * Tattling *
    Before the rehearsal a person behind me insisted that if "the terrorists" decided to bomb the War Memorial Opera House, it would be no great loss, as it is, in his opinion, the worst opera house in the United States as far as acoustics and comfort are concerned. He was also adamant that the duets in Ariodante are very unusual for Baroque opera and he repeated this statement in between acts. It made me think of the duets in Rodelinda and Giulio Cesare, which was just confusing because those earlier works than Ariodante, since Senesino was singing those and Giovanni Carestini sang in the latter.

    Yesterday was director John Copley's 75th birthday, and after the bows we sang "Happy Birthday." I've now sung with Ruth Ann Swenson and Susan Graham, which is probably not going to happen again.

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  • Ariodante Panel Discussion

    Ariodante-ken-howard Yesterday evening Kip Cranna moderated the last San Francisco Opera Insight Panel Discussion of the season. The three panelists were conductor and Houston Grand Opera's Music Director Patrick Summers, mezzo-soprano Susan Graham (Ariodante), and bass-baritone Eric Owens (King of Scotland). Kip Cranna began the evening by asking which opera this summer was in Italian, set in Scotland, and has a mad scene. Evidently Ariodante shares all these qualities with the much more famous Lucia di Lammermoor.

    Each panelist was asked about his or her first exposure to the operas of Händel. Maestro Summers first Händel opera was Tamerlano at Indiana University, Ms. Graham's first was Alcina at Paris Opera with two other Händel virgins (Renée Fleming and Natalie Dessay), and Mr. Owen's first was Giulio Cesare at Wolf Trap.

    Apparently, both Susan Graham and Eric Owens played piano, and sometimes visualize the keyboard when hitting notes with their voices. This came up when Graham was asked if she improvised ornamentation, which she does not, as she "knows [she] would take the wrong turn." This happened once to her, and she is quite grateful for prompters. The prompter for Ariodante is Jonathan Khuner, and he has learnt Graham's "sign language," which involves miming notes on a piano.

    The John Copley production of Ariodante was first done in Santa Fe in 1987, and has since traveled to Dallas (1998), City Opera (1999), and San Diego (2002). Somehow, the ballet costumes for the end of Act II have been lost, so that scene has been cut. Interestingly, each of the acts has a ballet at the end, but none of these will be in the version we will see in San Francisco. Other cuts include two arias and part of a duet, Summers estimated it was about 30 minutes of music that was left out, so each performance will be 3 hours and 30 minutes long, with two intermissions.

    Ariodante: Production at San Francisco Opera | Synopsis | Libretto | Arias | Score

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  • Madame White Snake at Opera Boston

    Opera Boston has commissioned Zhou Long to compose Madame White Snake, a new opera based on a Chinese legend. Cerise Lim Jacobs' libretto for the opera is in English and the work will premiere on February 24, 2010.

    Press Release [PDF] | Madame White Snake | Opera Boston Official Site

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  • Lindy Hume News

    Opera director Lindy Hume will be the Festival Director of the Sydney Festival for 2010-2012.

    ABC News Article | Sydney Festival Official Site

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  • Meet the Merolini 2008

    The 29 Merolini for 2008 were interviewed by San Francisco Opera Center Director Sheri Greenawald and Merola Opera Board of Directors Chairman Jayne Davis yesterday evening, in the Green Room of the War Memorial Veterans Building. We learned that baritone Young Joo An went to high school with current Adler Fellow Ji Young Yang and that tenor René Barbera has a beanie baby collection. There are some dancers among them, baritone Eugene Chan can break dance and soprano Amanda Majeski tapped danced professionally. Apprentice coach Eileen Downey admitted that as a child she wanted to be a conductor because she wanted a tux with coattails.

    We also found out who is singing what this summer:

    Schwabacher Summer Concert
    Young Joo An: Tonio (Pagliacci), Giorgio Germont (La Traviata)
    Ren    é Barbara: Ernesto (Don Pasquale)
    Leah Crocetto: Manon Lescaut (Manon), Norina (Don Pasquale)
    Nathaniel Peake: Alfredo (La Traviata), Le Chevalier des Grieux (Manon)
    David W. Pershall: Dr. Malatesta (Don Pasquale)
    Ben Wager: Don Pasquale, Comte des Grieux (Manon)

    Albert Herring
    Albert Herring: James Benjamin Rodgers
    Lady Billows: Kate Crist
    Florence Pike: Nicole Birkland
    Miss Wordsworth: Ellen Wieser
    Mr. Gedge: Eugene Chan
    The Mayor: Tyler S. Nelson
    Superintendent Budd: Benjamin LeClair
    Sid: Darren Perry
    Nancy: Renée Tatum
    Mrs. Herring: Natasha Florez

    Don Giovanni
    Don Giovanni: Austin Kness
    Donna Anna: Amanda Majeski
    Don Ottavio: David Lomelí
    Donna Elvira: Rena Harms
    Commendatore: Ben Wager
    Leporello: Carlos Monzón
    Masetto: Adam Cioffari
    Zerlina: Joélle Harvey

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  • Kip Cranna to Receive San Francisco Opera Medal

    Cranna Dr. Clifford (Kip) Cranna began his 30th year with San Francisco Opera on June 4, 2008. He will receive the San Francisco Opera Medal before the second performance of Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor this season, on Friday, June 20. Cranna was named director of music administration for San Francisco Opera at the end of last month, and was compared to Obi-Wan Kenobi in the press release.

    Press Release [PDF] | San Francisco Opera Administration

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  • New Assistant General Director of San Francisco Opera

    Shilvock Matthew Shilvock has been appointed Assistant General Director of San Francisco Opera.

    Press Release [PDF] | San Francisco Opera

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  • Brokeback Mountain, the Opera

    Charles Wuorinen's operatic version of Brokeback Mountain will premiere in 2013 at New York City Opera.

    AP Article| Press Release

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  • Missa sopra “Ecco sì beato giorno” in cinque corri divisa

    * Notes *
    Alessandro Striggio's Missa sopra "Ecco sì beato giorno" in cinque corri divisa had its American premiere this evening at the First Congregational Church of Berkeley. The evening began with His Majestys Sagbutts and Cornetts playing three pieces from 1618 by Giovanni Battista Grillo (c.1565?-1622): Canzon Quarta, Canzon in Ecco, and Sonata Prima. These were interspersed with Toccata Cleopatra a8 and Toccata Athalanta a8 by Aurelio Bonelli (c.1569-1620) and Canzon Sol Sol La Sol Fa Mi, a8 (1608) by Giovanni Gabrieli (c.1559-1612), all of these played by two organs and two harpsichords. The latter had a sing-song children's chant quality that was both eerie and charming.

    Davitt Moroney found Striggio's Great Mass at La Bibliothèque nationale de France in 2005, as it only listed in the library's catalogue without a title, being for four voices, and written the composer "A. Strusco." The piece is actually for 40 and 60 voices, that is, five choirs of 8 people, and augmented by 4 people per choir for the Agnus Dei 2. Moroney added a plainchant Pater noster before the Agnus Dei, and a plainchant Ite missa est/Deo gratias after.

    The piece is lovely, it starts off with a glass-like clarity and proceeds to become more and more liquid, dissolving into waves of sound. Moroney used five different ensembles for his singers: Magnificat, Philharmonia Chorale, the American Bach Soloists, Schola Cantorum San Francisco, and Perfect Fifth. The choirs were arranged in a semi-circle, clumped by ensemble, with the contrabass sackbutt, violone, organs, and harpsichords in the middle, and the rest of the sackbutts and cornetts lined up at the back. The balance of sound was fine, everyone was remarkably together. The intoners, tenor Edward Betts and baritone Jeffrey Fields were both strong.

    * Tattling *
    The Berkeley Festival & Exhibition Web site lists both performances of Striggio as sold-out, but there were a few tickets left. Every seat did look taken, and the audience was exceedingly well-behaved. There were some whispers and a few scattered coughs.

    Bloggers Jennifer Young (Sonnenatmenden Erde) and Celeste Winant (Choralista) were both on stage singing.

    At the end the applause was very enthusiastic, people stamped their feet, and synchronized clapping even emerged. The encore was the Agnus Dei 2.

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