The Opera Tattler

Reviews of Performances and their Audiences

Recent posts

  • Tannhäuser Opening at SF Opera

    Petra Maria Schnitzer, photo by Terrence McCarthy* Notes *
    Graham Vick’s production of Tannhäuser opened at San Francisco Opera yesterday. Designed by Paul Brown, this co-production with Dallas Opera strikes an elusive balance, it is neither cloyingly traditional nor starkly contemporary. The bacchanalia is one of the weaker points, Ron Howell’s choreography here looks to be inspired by Graham and West African dance, but somehow is vulgar, more so than same scene in the recent     Los Angeles Opera offering earlier this year. However, the rest of the choreography is solid and works well with the lighting, designed by Adam Silverman. The entrance of the men’s chorus in Act I was particularly beautiful with the light streaming in through the windows one side and the singers emerging from the glow. The pacing of the staging was excellent, there was enough action but it was not superfluous.

    Runnicles conducted well, the orchestra was together and the tempi were brisk. I was quite worried that Peter Seiffert (Tannhäuser) and his vibrato would annoy me all evening, but he sounded better in this space. Perhaps the Dorothy Chandler is less forgiving, but Seiffert sounded warmer than I remembered, though he did wobble a great deal. Petra Lang was not the most alluring Venus, her shrill voice and her unflattering bed sheet costume were both less than ideal. I had liked hearing James Rutherford at Opera in the Park, but as Wolfram I found his voice lacks heft. On the other hand, Ji Young Yang sounded just as bright as the Shepherd as she had in Golden Gate Park. Her control is imperfect, at times she shrieked a bit. Petra Maria Schnitzer was good, she seemed better matched in this production than in Los Angeles, her voice did not stand out quite as much.

    * Tattling *
    The San Francisco audience for Wagner tends to be rather quiet, though I did hear, albeit very faintly, a watch alarm. I commend the audience for not applauding for the horse with the hunting party. Such restraint! In standing room man inserted himself next to my companion and the person to her left, he interrupted our conversation to mention the "X-rated" production in Los Angeles. He repeatedly rubbed his arm during the performance and muttered a few times, but this was pretty minor as I could not discern what he was saying. He probably found a seat after Act I, for we did not see him after the first intermission.

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  • Samson et Dalila at SF Opera

    Rembrandt_2* Notes*
    San Francisco Opera opened the 2007-2008 season with Samson et Dalila on September 7th. This 1980 production, by Nicolas Joël, was last revived in     2001. Douglas W. Schmidt’s sets look dated from close up, they are a bit flat and at odd angles. The costumes also have suffered in the 27 years since Carrie Robbins designed them. They look like the Alma-Tadema paintings they were inspired by, but every piece of cloth used seemed to have a pattern on it. It looked like the chitons were made of leftover fabric for Easter dresses. However, from the back of the orchestra everything does look lovely, and this time around they managed to get the scrim working properly, it did not get caught on anything in the three performances I have seen.

    Olga Borodina’s voice is a bit rougher than I remembered, it has some harsh edges when she sang in the higher range at full-volume. She was still a rather sultry Dalila. Clifton Forbis was not inspiring as Samson, his voice was strained but otherwise passionless. In contrast, Juha Uusitalo (High Priest of Dagon) has a beautiful voice, and sings with much more ease. Disappointingly Oren Gradus did not quite have the lower range for the Old Hebrew. I was pleasantly surprised by the Abimélech, Eric Jordan, and curious to hear him in a more challenging role.

    * Tattling *
    I saw the final dress rehearsal during a corporate event and found it curious that Forbis did not sing full out, as he needed to save his voice for the opening. Borodina also saved her voice somewhat, but did sing audibly.

    Everyone was all aflutter for the opening, two couples in standing room tried their best to block me out of my spot and could not be silent. They were repeatedly hushed. It was a good night for looking at fancy dresses and obvious plastic surgery. The flowers on the boxes were a bit naff this year, large squares of pink roses, lots of rose garlands, and random bits of greenery.

    I was pleased to note that for the third performance, the scrim was not lowered until after the music ended for Act I, so that the audience, good monkeys that they are, refrained from clapping over the orchestra.

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  • Central City Opera’s 2008 Season

    June 6-22 2008: The Rape of Lucretia
    June 28- August 9 2008: West Side Story
    July 5- August 10 2008: Susannah

    Press Release | Season Overview

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  • Der Fliegende Holländer at Seattle Opera

    Jane Eaglen and Greer Grimsley, photo by Rozarii Lynch* Notes *
    Stephen Wadsworth's 1989 production Der Fliegende Holländer revived at Seattle Opera from August 4-25, 2007, and I caught the fifth and sixth performances on a weekend jaunt to the Emerald City. Thomas Lynch's sets are meant to be 19th century, but the costumes looked like contemporary street clothing. The singing was mediocre. The steersman, Jason Collins, had poor diction. Daniel Sumegi was quiet in the role of Daland. Greer Grimsley was an impassive Dutchman, one could hear him but he just did not seem terribly engaged. Jane Eaglen (Senta) was least unpleasant, her voice is full but not overpowering. Her acting was terrible, she is especially unsuited for the role of a young, sweet girl as she can barely move. The choreography as a whole was boring, the singers mostly just stood around. I did enjoy hearing the chorus and the orchestra played well under the direction of Asher Fisch.

    * Tattling *
    The production was drawn out from having two intermissions, perhaps this was for the scene changes as the sets were not simple. Often times this opera is given with no intermission at all, so it is a bit strange that Wadsworth/Lynch decided to make one of Wagner's shorter operas longer.

    The audience was the worst-behaved that I have observed at a Wagner opera in Seattle. There was talking, beeping, and the like. They kept clapping for the sets. Worst though was the Act II set, which emitted a high pitched noise. Perhaps the lights were to blame, but it was almost unbearable the second time around.

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  • Seattle Opera’s 2009 Ring Cycle

    Seattle Opera is putting on the Stephen Wadsworth/Thomas Lynch production of Der Ring des Nibelungen for the third time in August 2009.

    August 9-25 2009: Das Rheingold
    August 10-26 2009: Die Walküre
    August 12-28 2009: Siegfried
    August 14-30 2009: Götterdämmerung

    Official Site | Ring Cast Press Release [PDF]

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  • 7th Performance of Don Giovanni at SF Opera

    Dgskulls* Tattling *
    Yesterday’s performance was sold-out, so standing room was ridiculously full, at least for Act I. I got my ticket at 1:30pm and received ticket number 106. There was no late-seating up in the balcony, so there were tons of disgruntled latecomers who could not see the stage or the OperaVision screens because of all the standees. It might have been better if they were watching a screen in the lobby or some such. The area was rather warm, as there were at least 100 standing people crowded around trying to see the performance. During the quartet "Non ti fidar, o misera," a young woman fainted from the temperature. She was unconscious for a few minutes, poor thing. The people around her found help and I believe she was taken to the infirmary.

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  • Der Rosenkavalier at San Francisco Opera

    Sfoperabalkon* Notes *
    Der Rosenkavalier opened June 9th at San Francisco Opera, but so far I have only managed to go last Sunday and yesterday. Lofti Mansouri’s revived production, designed by Thierry Bosquet in 2000, is just as one would expect, and was based on the original 1911 Dresden premiere. Donald Runnicles conducted well, the orchestra was together, the tempi were lively but not too fast either. The singing was fine, especially Joyce DiDonato as Octavian. Her German could use a bit of work, but her portrayal was nuanced and beautiful. Soile Isokoski was lovely as the Marschallin on June 24th, though perhaps a bit cold. Martina Serafin was more shrill when she sang the role on June 27th, and she had a little too much vibrato, but she still was quite moving. Miah Persson was a feisty Sophie, her voice is pleasing and clear. Kristinn Sigmundsson was hilarious as Baron von Ochs, his voice sounded better in this role than as the Commendatore. Robert McPherson strained a lot as the Italian singer, the music was pretty, but he made it seem so difficult.

    * Tattling *
    During the Sunday performance, a man was stretched out on the floor behind the balcony standing room. He fell asleep, which would be fine by me, except that he snored rather loudly.

    There was plenty of whispering during the Wednesday performance, and one very loud woman in W 118 of the orchestra. At some point she mentioned she was syphilitic, though I believe she was joking. Despite hushings, she was only quiet when she propped her elbows on the seat in front of her to look through her binoculars. I did not ask her to stop, as I was relieved she was no longer speaking. Again, perhaps it was my outfit, I need to work a more schoolmarmish look:

    Flapperish

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  • Tauric Chersonese

    Tauris* Notes *
    Iphigénie en Tauride had a second performance at San Francisco Opera last Sunday. The singing was again excellent. The choreography was more coherent from the middle of orchestra level standing room, but I still found it overwrought. This time I noticed that the lighting, designed by Robert Carsen and Peter van Praet, was effective, making entrances and exits move along perfectly. I especially liked the scene with the Eumenides and Orestes in Act II, in which the dancers seem to just materialize and multiply out of nowhere.

    * Tattling *
    There were quite a lot of people waiting for rush tickets in the morning, despite the sign which read "No Student, Senior, & Military Rush For This Performance." People had called in to ask about rush tickets, and were told there were a limited number, so the sign confused them. I was asked many times about the sign, and I speculated it was from the night before.

    The audience was ill-behaved for the matinée. There was a watch alarm during a choral part in Act I and a cellular phone rang during Act II.

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  • Il Dissoluto Punito

    * Notes *
    In the past week I have seen Don Giovanni twice more, in the first row and in a box. From Row A on the orchestra level, the parts that are offstage are much more noticeable, it is obvious that the sounds are coming from the speakers when they are. It was also much easier not to laugh at the Death Chicken and the Zombie Commendatore, the close proximity shocked me into silence. From the boxes I learnt that the Minuet in the ballroom scene of Act I is played by the musicians in the pit, the Contradanse by musicians in Box A, and the Teutsche is played by those in Box Z.

    During both performances I noticed that Twyla Robinson was consistently off key, that Masetto and Zerlina’s marriage procession with sounded very much like a race between singers and orchestra, and the set up for the final scene is too noisy as Non mi dir is being sung.

    * Tattling *
    People are well-behaved when they are right by the orchestra. There was lots of whispering in Box X, especially from those in seats 4 and 5, but the actual words were not discernible. The person in seat 3 snored a bit, somehow this was more endearing than annoying. The cameramen in Box Z were not in place at the beginning of the overture and they talked a little bit during the music.

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  • Premiere of Iphigénie en Tauride

    Bo Skovhus and Susan Graham, photo by Terrence McCarthy* Notes *
    Gluck's Iphigénie en Tauride (1779) had its first performance at San Francisco Opera last night. The co-production with Lyric Opera of Chicago and the Royal Opera, Convent Garden is rather sparse, not unlike the music itself. The action takes place in a black box and the costumes likewise black, all quite simple. The unadorned staging was suitable, and might have been highly effective were it not for Philippe Giraudeau's exaggerated choreography. The chorus was consigned to the orchestra pit as dancers pantomimed of what had happened thus far to the House of Atreus.

    The production is bizarre in other ways as well, the dancers ran around and wrote the names on the walls and floor, only to erase them later with water. The walls poured water, the resulting puddles on the black floor looked more urinous than bloody. The deus ex machina was not represented on stage, but Diane sang in the Grand Tier, which could work for those in the orchestra and boxes, but must have been strange for those around and above her.

    The only weak singer was Mark S. Doss as the villain Thoas. He sounded as if he was being strangled. The rest of the singing was incredible, especially Susan Graham in the title role and Bo Skovhus as Oreste. The latter was slightly awkward in his carriage, but dealt well with being tossed around by dancers, he was lifted and made to walk on the walls. Paul Groves (Pylade) sang beautifully as well, though at points the orchestra overwhelmed him.

    * Tattling *
    The audience was well-behaved, perhaps because it was the opening of an opera not in the standard repertory. Some concupiscent gazes were noted and there was late seating in the boxes, but nothing disruptive. It was rather strange when people craned their necks to see Diane in the audience.

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