The Opera Tattler

Reviews of Performances and their Audiences

Recent posts

  • Redeemer Reborn Talk at WSNC

    Notes *
    Yesterday afternoon Paul Schofield gave a talk on his book The Redeemer Reborn: Parsifal as the Fifth Opera of Wagner's Ring Cycle at the Wagner Society of Northern California    . It was the second time he had talked on this subject at WSNC, so his talk was slightly incoherent for someone who had not heard the previous one. Schofield spent most of the time going into the history of the grail legends, emphasizing they are not "fairy tales," as he put it, slightly scornfully. Strong attention was paid to the similarity of such stories across Indo-European cultures, though the same could be said of many folk tales as well.

    Schofield compared the protagonists of Der Ring des Nibelungen and Parsifal convincingly, but the parallels between Siegfried, Tannhäuser, der Holländer, Tristan, and Parsifal are all clear. I am not sure that it was proved Parsifal was part of the Ring anymore than Tristan und Isolde is. Perhaps I must simply read the book, as one can hardly expect someone to condense a 324 page book into a 90 minute talk.

    * Tattling *
    This WSNC event was the most crowded one I have attended, more chairs had to be brought in, and every chair was taken. Quite entertainingly, during the Q&A the speaker called the libretto for Turandot absurd, and mocked the opera as having "some nice music." Note this opera is based on an Indo-European fairy tale. Is it not interesting that Wagnerians are not satisfied with their composer being so great and glorious, but must also make humiliating remarks about other composers whenever possible?

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  • Zeffirelli-fest

    "On Saturday, after Act II of his production of La Bohème, the Met will celebrate Mr. Zeffirelli onstage, gathering singers associated with his productions and presenting him with a plaque. Plaques honoring him will also be permanently affixed on both sides of the proscenium, at eye level for anyone entering or leaving the stage."

    NY Times Article | Met Interview

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  • Voigt and Heppner in Tristan und Isolde

    The performance will be broadcast at 7pm EDT (5pm PDT) tonight. As you well know, the production has been fraught and included four Met debuts, but finally, Deborah Voigt and Ben Heppner are to sing together in Tristan und Isolde tonight.

    Press Release | Official Site

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  • Elza van den Heever’s Salon at the Rex

    Elza * Notes *
    The lovely     Elza van den Heever gave a recital of various songs for the Salons at the Rex series yesterday evening. Van den Heever began with five Brahms Lieder. She skipped a verse in "Die Mainacht," and was somewhat loud as she sang the word "Morgenrot." Her German diction was nearly perfect, only the vowel in "strahlt" was possibly off. She sang three Richard Strauss songs quite beautifully, "Morgen" was particularly fine. Next came three Debussy songs, two from Fêtes Galantes and "Green" from Ariettes oubliées. These she sang nicely, with good control of her volume. The last three songs on the program were in English, and Elza has a fine grasp of this language as well. She was cute singing Gershwin's "By Strauss" and was quite nearly sassy. Her voice was a bit too operatic for "I Will Follow My Secret Heart" and "I Am a Stranger Here Myself," and I was relieved she did not sing Cole Porter's "My Heart Belongs to Daddy," though it was on the program. Elza's encore, a song in Afrikaans, was gorgeous.

    * Tattling *
    The recital was sold out, possibly a first for this performance series. The audience was well-behaved, and there was only one watch alarm at 7pm during "Von ewiger Liebe," right after the words "Redet so viel und so mancherlei."

    Elza's floral black and white dress and black patent leather heels were both elegant and sweet.

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  • Murat IV in Ankara

    MuratMurat IV, the opera by Okan Demiriş, was revived for two performances at the Ankara State Opera this week.

    Production Information | Article

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  • Turandot Reappropriated

    Beijingturandot"Indeed, Turandot was considered so suspect that when it was first performed in Beijing in 1995 the setting was changed to an unnamed location in Central Asia."

    A new production of Turandot was performed from March 21-26 at the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing. Hao Weiya wrote a new ending to Puccini's unfinished work and the production is to tour China and Europe later this year.

    Amusingly, the name Turandot or Turandokht is Persian, meaning "Daughter of Turan." In turn, Turan means "the land of the Tur," and refers to Central Asia.

    IHT Article | WSJ Article | NY Times Article |  Official Site 

    Amusingly, the name Turandot or Turandokht is Persian, meaning "Daughter of Turan." In turn, Turan means "the land of the Tur," and refers to Central Asia.

    IHT Article | WSJ Article | NY Times Article |  Official Site

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  • Israeli Opera’s 2008-2009 Season

    November 2008: Salome
    December 2008: A Journey to the End of the Millennium
    January – February 2009: Mefistofele
    February- March 2009: Cunning Little Vixen
    March- April 2009: La Bohème
    April- May 2009: Tosca
    May- June 2009: Carmen
    July 2009: Aida

    Barenboim will conduct the Zeffirelli production of Aida from La Scala. The productions of La Bohème and Carmen are also by Zeffirelli.

    Jerusalem Post | Official Site

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  • Moby-Dick Interview

    "You know, the thing that's really remarkable about that book for the time period in which it was written is the improvisational, free-flowing nature of it. He goes from straight prose to something like love poetry to setting up scenes as though this were a play–and then, back again!"

    I particularly like that this interview with Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer is prefaced (at least, at the time of writing, one assumes it will be corrected at some point) "A discussion with composer Jake Heggie and librettist Jake Heggie about the upcoming world-premiere production of Moby-Dick for The Dallas Opera." Personally, my favorite part of Melville's text is Chapter 55, "Of the Monstrous Pictures of Whales," in which mistakes in depicting whales are discussed. Chapter 56, "Of the Less Erroneous Pictures of Whales, and the True Pictures of Whaling Scenes," is slightly less amusing. Doubtless these chapters will not appear in the opera, but one can live in hope.

    Heggie/Scheer Interview | Dallas Opera | Moby-Dick Online

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  • Tristan und Isolde Live in HD Met Simulcast

    Mettristan * Notes *
    The Dieter Dorn/    Jürgen Rose production of Tristan und Isolde was shown as a simulcast yesterday. I tried my best not to worry too much about the set and staging, as I did not find the Dorn/Rose Le Nozze or Così at Bayerische Staatsoper particularly interesting, though their Don Carlo was not bad. However, I found myself liking the production, especially Max Keller's lighting. Naturally, in Act III, there were ridiculous props on stage to signify we were in Kareol, including a number of toy knights in armor.

    James Levine conducted well, the orchestra and singers were all synchronized. Deborah Voigt (Isolde) was in fine form, she only had one small gasp before she put the torch out in Act II. She sang the "Liebestod" beautifully. Robert Dean Smith's debut as Tristan at the Met seemed to go smoothly, especially considering he was in Berlin a few days ago and was flown in just for this performance. There were a few times when the orchestra overwhelmed him, and when he didn't exactly know where to be on stage. Michelle DeYoung was lovely as Brangäne, her high notes are fine and her voice is strong without being ugly. Matti Salminen embodied King Marke, he looked and sounded the part.

    * Tattling *
    Susan Graham was a fine host, I never noticed how expressive her eyebrows are. Her interviews with Levine and Voigt were especially charming. There was only one time the sound went out this time, for a few seconds when Kurwenal was singing in Act III. From the simulcast, it was quite clear that both Voigt and DeYoung have perfect teeth, and that Voigt's eyes are a most brilliant blue.

    Barbara Willis Sweete's filming of the simulcast was extremely irritating. She employed the use of multiple images, which in and of itself could have been useful, but since the perspective kept changing and the images moved around, tracking a certain character, it was simply headache-inducing. Often the field of vision was constricted, so that there was just one small box on the screen with a bunch of empty black space around it. It was also quite annoying when the images would show either exactly the same image (the image of the flame trebled, for example), or the same person in different views. The constant motion was at odds with the production and with the work itself.

    The Wagnerians were out in full force, the movie theater was sold-out. One couple arrived late and sat in front of me, they spoke at full volume a few times. The female half of the couple received a phone call during Act III, as the male half kept falling asleep and snoring.

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  • Ethno-historical Cantata

    Mezzo-soprano Helene Joseph-Weil and composer Benjamin Boone have put together an "ethno-historical cantata" based on the oral history of one Ascencion Solorsano, the last known fluent speaker of Mutsun.

    NPR Story | The Mutsun Language

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