The Opera Tattler

Reviews of Performances and their Audiences

Recent posts

  • SF Opera’s Annual Meeting 2008

    * Notes *
    San Francisco Opera‘s Annual Meeting was held yesterday afternoon. Board of Directors President George H. Hume, General Director David Gockley, and CFO Michael Simpson all gave reports. Things seem to be going well, the endowment is up to $125 million from $45 million in 2002-2003, and though subscriptions are slightly down from the previous year, single ticket sales are up. There was a great emphasis on growing a new, younger audience through radio broadcasts, live simulcasts, and the new cinemacasts. A 10 minute clip of the cinemacast for La Rondine was shown. It featured, of course, “Che il bel sogno” from Act I, and the Act II quartet involving Magda, Ruggero, Lisette, and Prunier. Certainly many details are revealed in this medium, and the cameras did not seem to move as wildly as in the Met simulcasts.


    Best of all was the short performance of mezzo-soprano Daniela Mack, tenor Andrew Bidlack, and pianist Lara Bolton. Mack sang “Tu Preparati a Morire” from Ariodante beautifully, although with a bit too much vibrato, but at least not the annoying sort. Bidlack sang “De’miei Bolenti Spiriti” from Act II of La Traviata with his usual aplomb. They finished off with a very pretty rendition of the duet “C’est le Ciel qui M’envoie” from La Belle Hélène.


    * Tattling *
    A cellular phone rang just before the film clip was shown, the ring tone was “Für Elise.” A watch alarm signaled the hour during Prunier’s part of “Che il bel sogno.”


    David Gockley did not like the dancing in Tannhäuser. During the Q&A, two people asked about not getting responses for their missives. We also learned that casting for Porgy and Bess is coming along. Karen Slack is to sing Serena, Laquita Mitchell is Clara, and Gregg Baker is Crown.

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  • ROH in Movie Theaters

    Next season the Royal Opera, London will show live performances of both ballet and opera in movie theaters across the UK.

    As for this season, ROH will present pre-recorded a performance of Carmen, along with the ballets Sylvia, Romeo and Juliet, The Tales of Beatrix Potter, and Sleeping Beauty.

    Telegraph | CBC News |Official Site

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  • Kazakhstan is Exotic for Fleming

    Kz"I had to look it up," said Renée Fleming of the Central Asian country Kazakhstan in an interview with Manuela Hoelterhoff. (Apparently she didn't watch the terribly informative film Borat.) Fleming is singing an opera ball in Almaty this summer.

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  • ROH’s 2008-2009 Season

    September 8- October 4 2008: Don Giovanni
    September 16-29 2008: La fanciulla del West
    September 23- October 10 2008: La Calisto
    October 11-18 2008: La Bohème
    October 23- November 11 2008: Matilde di Shabran
    November 9-24 2008: Elektra
    November 25- December 13 2008: Les Contes d'Hoffmann
    December 9 2008- January 1 2009: Hänsel und Gretel
    December 22- January 23 2008: Turandot
    January 20-31 2009: The Beggar's Opera
    January 27- February 17 2009: Die Tote Stadt
    February 10 -25 2009: Rigoletto
    February 23- March 10 2009: Der fliegende Holländer
    March 2- April 11 2009: I Capuleti e i Montecchi
    March 31- April 20 2009: Dido and Aeneas/Acis and Galatea
    April 13- May 7 2009: Il trovatore
    April 27- May 16 2009: Lohengrin
    May 12-25 2009: L'elisir d'Amore
    June 4-20 2009: Lulu
    June 19- July 6 2009: La Traviata
    June 26- July 18 2009: Un Ballo en Maschera
    July 7-18 2009: Il barbiere di Siviglia
    July 9-18 2009: Tosca

    Simon Keenlyside and Mariusz Kwiecien share the role of Don Giovanni, and Keenlyside also sings Figaro in Il barbiere. David Alden has his ROH debut directing a production of La Calisto from Bayerische Staatsoper. Bryn Terfel is singing in Holländer and Tosca, while Deborah Voigt sings the title role of the latter. Renée Fleming is singing opposite Joseph Calleja in La Traviata and Thomas Hampson sings Germont. Die Tote Stadt has its UK premiere, Ingo Metzmacher will conduct. The production is from Salzburg and is the one that will be at San Francisco Opera this September. Lucas Meachem will be singing Aeneas in his ROH debut.

    Bloomberg Article | Press Release [PDF] |Official Site

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  • Padmâvatî Coverage

    Padmâvatî opened last Friday at Théâtre du Châtelet.

    In English: IHT | Times of India | Reuters India | The Telegraph

    En Français: webthea.com | Le Monde | ResMusica.com | AFP

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  • UK Funding for Dance

    The chief executive of the Royal Opera House Tony Hall recently reviewed youth dance in the UK and dance is to receive £5.5 million from the Departments for Culture, Media and Sport and Children, Schools and Families and Arts Council England.

    Press Release | BBC Article

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  • L’Elisir d’Amore at Berkeley Opera

    * Notes *
    The 2008 season of Berkeley Opera opened last Saturday with a performance of the very silly opera L'Elisir d'Amore. The production is sweet, and the set only seemed to have two modes, one with one arch in the background and a few feet of stone wall, and another with three arches and a few feet less of stone wall. Of course, this was perfectly fine, elaborate scene changes are not necessary for L'Elisir. The costumes were pretty good, but the wigs were distractingly poor. Gianetta's dark red wig was styled à la Farrah Fawcett circa 1977, and Adina's ponyfall was too blond for the rest of her hair.

    Angela Cadelago screeched a little in her first aria as Adina, but twittered along nicely for the rest of the opera. Andrew Truett acted the part of Nemorino very well, but his voice was a little quiet. He was especially funny when dancing around the stage in Act I Scene 2, when he moonwalked for a few seconds. Torlef Borsting (Belcore) was weak in his higher range, but his voice was pretty otherwise. Paul Cheak was quite amusing as Dulcamara, though his voice is a bit breathy. It was an altogether entertaining evening.

    * Tattling *
    The fake ficus tree was knocked over in Act I, Scene 1, but was promptly put back up by a chorus member. I overheard a hilarious conversation during intermission which covered the Ring (large women wearing breastplates shrieking in German) and Funny Games (one would be concerned if it was recommended by a friend because of what would that might mean about that person).

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  • Peter Grimes Live in HD Met Simulcast

    Metpetergrimes* Notes *
    Despite my lack of enthusiasm for Benjamin Britten's music, I did attend today's simulcast of Peter Grimes. Some of Britten's rhythms in this opera were of interest, particularly the sea shanty at the end of Act I. Unlike the protagonists of Billy Budd or The Turn of the Screw, the character of Peter Grimes is not completely inane. His status as an outsider is rather operatic, of course, and the ambiguity of his tale is intriguing. I was also quite curious about John Doyle's production since I had just heard his interview on the Los Angeles Opera podcast from last year. The production is striking, though Scott Pask's set was tiresome at times. The set is meant to be oppressive, and it certainly was, but it was also a bit like a stark Advent calendar.

    Donald Runnicles seemed to have a good handle on the orchestra, and everything sounded very much together. I had no idea our maestro perspired so much, and this is one of the odd things about the simulcasts, they do sometimes show us more than we wish to see. The singing was all at a high level, with fine diction from everyone, I was able to get away with not reading the subtitles. Felicity Palmer was horribly funny as Mrs. Sedley. Patricia Racette's vibrato grated a bit on me, as usual, but she had some brilliant moments as well, and was convincing as the kind Ellen Orford. Anthony Dean Griffey was impressive in the titular role, both acting and singing were great.

    * Tattling *
    People clapped a great deal for Patricia Racette and Donald Runnicles as the opening credits ran, good thing they are decoupled from the overture.     Natalie Dessay was a cute host for the simulcast, she did brief interviews of Racette and Griffey, Doyle and Pask, the costume designer Ann Hould-Ward, and Runnicles. The picture froze for several seconds during Act I when Peter was singing the words "The storm is here and I shall stay." The sound did go out for a second, but resumed more quickly than the picture.

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  • La Bohème at SF Lyric

    La-boheme-poster* Notes *
    A charming production of La Bohème opened at San Francisco Lyric Opera at Cowell Theater last night. The orchestra was not quite together, and at times the singers were not with the orchestra either. For the first act I was unable to stop listening to the orchestra, as it was on the same level as the audience and I was only in the second row. By chance I was right by the violas, which brought me back to the days of being in my high school's orchestra. Kim A. Tolman's set was artful and perfectly in keeping with the spirit of the opera. The changes of scene went smoothly and the background projections were not distracting. Most of the costumes were good, though the blue gown Mimi wore in Act IV looked like it was borrowed from Romeo and Juliet. All the singers were fine, especially Shawnette Sulker as Musetta. Sulker was quite the actress as well. Tenor Vincent Chambers (Rodolfo) and baritone Nathaniel Hackmann (Marcello) both showed promise.

    * Tattling *
    The person next to me in Row E Seat 104 must have been under the impression that this was a sing-along opera, for she sang with nearly every famous aria. She was rather flat, but certainly she knew many of the words. Notably she did not sing Colline's aria in Act IV, nor did she announce the title beforehand, but thankfully she conducted, swaying her right hand back and forth.

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  • Isabel Bayrakdarian at PBO

    Bayrakdarian* Notes *
    Philharmonia Baroque's first performance of The Queen of Egypt concert occurred last night in San Francisco. The evening started with the overture from Graun's Cleopatra e Cesare, and Isabel Bayrakdarian sang the aria "Tra le procelle assorto" from that work. The horns had a few sour notes, and Bayrakdarian warbled a bit, but not unpleasantly. She also had a slight gasp once on the word "dissipar." She continued sounding bird-like in "Morte, col fiero aspetto" from Hasse's Marc'Antonio e Cleopatra, and had another slight gasp. Her diction was not the clearest, but Baroque music tends to be difficult to understand in any case.

    Janet See was the soloist for Quantz's Concerto No. 161 for Flute, G Major, QV 5:174, which was played at the end of the first half. See played beautifully, and everyone sounded very much together.

    In the second half, the orchestra played the overture from Händel's Giulio Cesare and Bayrakdarian returned to sing "Piangerò, la sorte mia." I have heard this aria butchered more than once in the last few years, and Bayrakdarian sang it refreshingly well. The B section was sung with passion, yet was always tasteful.

    Bayrakdarian was allowed the respite of Heinichen's Concerto in F Major, S 234 before the end. Again, there were a few brief moments of the slightest flatness in the horn, but for the most part the piece was played well. Nicolas McGegan took the tempi at a good speed.

    The evening finished off with a lullaby from Act I of Matheson's Cleopatra, and "The Death of Cleopatra." A few of Bayrakdarian's breaths were audible, but her voice sounded warm and beautiful, even voluptuous. The very end was lovely, the music just melted into silence.

    * Tattling *
    There were a few rows with hardly any people in them, but Herbst was fairly full. The audience was well-behaved, the only sound I heard during the music was a cellular phone on vibrate from a person behind me, which went off during the first movement of the flute concerto. During intermission I did overhear someone explain that Beowulf is Scandinavian, and this made my poor coal-black linguist's heart hurt a little. I should really keep my ears to myself.

    Isabel Bayrakdarian is as comely has her billboard indicated. She wore three different dresses, all beaded. The first gown was turquoise and brown chiffon, it something like a mermaid and peacock hybrid. The second gown was brown satin with asymmetrical gathering, this one was my favorite and was most becoming. The last gown was black and silver with gathering down the middle.

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