The Opera Tattler

Reviews of Performances and their Audiences

Recent posts

  • Giulio Cesare at Seattle Opera

    Cesare* Notes *
    Händel's Giulio Cesare in Egitto opened for the first time in Seattle late last month. The production came from Florida Grand Opera and featured a great deal of dancing, choreographed by Donald Byrd. It was a bit loud and distracting at times. Paul Steinberg set had the effect of a pop-up book, rather flat and plenty of primary colors. The scribbles on some of the scenery reminded me of the painter Lilo Rinkens.

    The singing was not particularly stunning. Everyone had far too much vibrato, especially for Baroque music. Alexandra Deshorties did not impress as Cleopatra, though she is rather pretty, her stage presence left something to be desired. Ewa Podleś was certainly not the most convincing Cesare, she is not terribly manly in her deportment. The role seems tasking for her, she was better as Erda at Seattle in 2005. Kristine Jepson at least looked boyish as Sesto Pompeo, but her voice was thin. Brian Asawa was a villainous Tolomeo and his voice was good. Helene Schneiderman was strongest as Cornelia, she both sang and acted well.

    The orchestra, conducted by Gary Thor Wedow, did not seem to be together. The horn solo in "Va tacito e nascosto" was appallingly bad on the March 3rd performance. It sounded as if the person playing was being strangled, the notes were not just off-key but completely wrong.

    * Tattling *
    This was a very well-behaved audience. A few people fell asleep and snored, but other than that, there were no disturbances    .

    Leave a Reply

  • Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater

    Revelations_2* Notes *
    Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater comes to Berkeley nearly every year, with several performances and more than one program. This year the New York based company was here from February 28 until March 4, and I attended the first performance.

    They opened with Twyla Tharp’s The Golden Section from 1983, with music by David Byrne. The piece was very pleasing to me, lots of motion and energy. Karole Armitage’s 2006 Gamelan Gardens was less so, the music by Lou Harrison grated on me. The movements had a strong clarity and elegance. They ended with Alvin Ailey’s Revelations, still so beautiful 47 years after its first performance. The dancing was strong throughout, the timing good and the dancers had a strong sense of intention.

    * Tattling *
    People did not chatter too much during the dancing. A cellular phone went off during Revelations.

    Leave a Reply

  • Die Zauberflöte at the Met

    Zauberfloete* Notes *
    Last Saturday's evening performance of Die Zauberflöte at the Metropolitan Opera was remarkable, though not for the singing. Julie Taymor's untraditional production was elaborate and whimsical, her costumes seemed to have Persian and Japanese influences. The production made ample use of puppetry to good effect. The kite-like fabric puppets were manipulated with rods by people dressed in black, reminiscent of both Wayang and Bunraku. It was entrancing, but the magical atmosphere was not sustained as well in the second half of the opera, which was more subdued.

    The sets, designed by George Tsypin, looked space-age Egyptian. The stage moved in a circle, making for easy scene changes. At times it was slightly loud, but the most disruptive part of the set was when curtains were torn from a doorway, the velcro sound was unmistakable. Donald Holder's lighting had some problems against the shiny surfaces, at times I was blinded by reflections.

    James Levine was simply amazing, the orchestra sounded perfect and the singers were never off from the music. Unfortunately, the Queen of the Night was ill, poor Cornelia Götz gasped through her two gloriously difficult arias. Her voice sounded stuck somewhere inside her head and she was, at times, flat. Lisa Milne was better as Pamina, her voice was warm and pleasant. Michael Schade was an earnest Tamino and Rodion Pogossov a charming Papageno. Both had perfectly nice voices, but neither was incredible. Bass Vitalij Kowaljow did not have consistent tone for the range of Sarastro, it was difficult to hear his low and high notes. Jennifer Aylmer sang reasonably well as Papagena, but her movements were just perfect as she pretended to be an old hag and when she revealed her true self.

    * Tattling *
    It seems that no one in the standing room line was there for Die Zauberflöte, so we didn't see any familiar faces from Eugene Onegin. The audience was badly-behaved. People behind us and in front of us spoke aloud during much of the performance. Some standees tried to sit during the middle of the last scene and were reprimanded. The person at standing room place 5 might have had Tourette's Syndrome, for he kept quietly swearing and humming during much of the performance, only stopping to eat candies. The unwrapping of said candies was loud, as was some of the crunching involved. When we did not get out of this fellow's way during the final round of applause, he pushed his way behind us without excusing himself.

    Leave a Reply

  • Eugene Onegin at the Met

    Onegin* Notes *
    Last Saturday's matinee of Eugene Onegin at the Metropolitan Opera was sold out, but was broadcast in movie theatres in seven countries. The production was done by Robert Carsen, with sets and costumes by Michael Levine. The sets were rather minimal, the first half has a bunch of autumnal leaves on the ground and these are swept around to suggest rooms. The scene changes were swift, expect in the case of the two last scenes in Act III. This one took more time than the others, perhaps because the chairs that had been brought on stage in the transition between Acts II and III had to be cleared. It was a contrast from the switch between acts that was done without the curtain falling. Valery Gergiev conducted well, it was interesting how slowly he took Monsieur Triquet's aria. The chorus did seem somewhat unwieldy, but the orchestra never did.

    Renée Fleming sang Tatiana well enough, but didn't seem engaged with the character. She also nearly tripped in the second scene, but not while she was running around throwing leaves around. Elena Zarembra (Olga) had a bit too much vibrato, even for Tchaikovsky. Dmitri Hvorostovsky was fine in the title role, he was both dashing and sullen. His voice is nice, but not as spectacular as Ramón Vargas'. Vargas had beautiful tone and he acted well. On the whole, the acting and singing was at a high level.

    * Tattling *
    The standing room line was about 100 people deep by 9:00 am. We arrived at 6:40 am and were fifth and sixth. Josephine was there with a bright blue furry headband on and her green coat.

    The audience wasn't great, there was some chatter and the girl next to me kept laughing at poor Eugene.

    Leave a Reply

  • Simon Boccanegra at the Met

    Simon Boccanegra* Notes *
    Giancarlo del Monaco's current production of Simon Boccanegra at the Met is traditional, the set and costumes, by Michael Scott, are lavish and exceedingly beautiful. The one weakness was the scene changes, some took a long time and people would start chattering and momentum was lost. Even still, Fabio Luisi had a fine handle on the music, the tempi were good. Angela Gheorghiu cut a fine figure as Amelia, her voice is precise, her tones silvery. Tenor Marcello Giordani strained somewhat as Gabriele, but was not bad. Thomas Hampson was convincing in the title role, his voice is warm and pleasing, but most impressive was bass Ferruccio Furlanetto as Fiesco. The acting was all splendid, everyone fit their parts and nothing was out of place.

    * Tattling *
    There was some chatter but it subsided by the second half, except during the aforementioned scene changes. There were some cellular phone rings and watch alarms that went off as well.

    Leave a Reply

  • The Passionate Violin

    Victoria_mullova* Notes *
    Viktoria Mullova played Beethoven's Violin Concerto in D major with the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra from February 8-11, 2007. The Saturday performance in Berkeley sold-out. Mullova's playing was fast and raw, at times she seemed out of tune. As for the orchestra, they could have been slightly more legato. I must admit, the whole thing made me feel uncomfortable, but the audience adored Mullova.

    PBO also played Weber's Symphony No. 2 in C major and Haydn's Symphony No. 104 in D major. Both were tuneful and very pretty, I felt they were played better than the Beethoven.

    * Tattling *
    There was a terrible mishap with seating, one ticket was sold twice, which was rather annoying.

    There also was a small child behind me who moved and made noises with her jacket zipper. Both her parents talked during the music, perhaps in an effort to make her sit still. At the end of the performance, an usher congratulated her parents on the child's good behavior. She did not talk, nor did she fall asleep.

    Leave a Reply

  • WWDTM

    * Notes *
    NPR’s     Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me! was at Cal Performances for two nights on February 8 and 9, 2007. Both performances sold-out. The panelists were Sue Ellicott, Adam Felber, and Paula Poundstone. I attended the second show, which isn’t the regular news quiz, but is on history, and will be aired when the show goes on hiatus.

    Peter Sagal and Carl Kasell were both as charming as they are on the air. The special guest was Linda Ronstadt, and she was funnier than one might expect, though she did ramble on a few times.

    * Tattling *
    No cellular phones rang, as we were implored to turn them off before the taping began. There was no intermission, and it was very interesting to hear the differences from this live performance versus the edited 50 minute broadcast.

    Leave a Reply

  • Pocket Opera’s Martha

    Martha* Notes *
    Pocket Opera's 30th season opened yesterday with Friedrich von Flotow's Martha. This company presents opera in English translation with a narrator, a small cast, and a refreshing unpretentiousness. Donald Pippin, the founder and artistic director of Pocket Opera, does all the translations, narrations, and plays piano accompaniment. For Martha, he lead the 8 others in the ensemble of strings and woodwinds.

    There were only 13 singers, all of whom were competent. As the Florence Gould Theater is rather small, with only 316 seats, volume was not an issue. Marcelle Dronkers wasn't terribly impressive in the title role, but she did have her moments. Tenor Brian Thorsett sang Lionel sweetly, though his diction could be improved. His voice is lovely, but he doesn't seem grounded in his body somehow. Julia Ulehla made a pretty Nancy, and her voice was nice despite some of her unclear arpeggios.

    Perhaps the weakest part of the production was Willa Anderson's costuming, especially in the very first scene. The dresses the ladies wore looked like random prom gowns from the 1980's. Also, the hairstyling could have been improved. Dronkers' bangs and side-ponytail were not becoming to the role.

    * Tattling *
    The photographer's camera was somewhat loud as he took pictures, but this was nothing compared to the cellular phone that rang at least 10 times during Act IV.

    Leave a Reply

  • Trisha Brown Dance Company

    Trishabrowndance* Notes *
    Trisha Brown Dance Company was in Berkeley for two performances last weekend. In general, I found her style to be rather slow and sculptural. It was intellectually interesting but not engaging on a visceral level. The dancers were good, but there were times when they were not consistent with each other. For instance if one person might have a stronger point of the foot, or another a higher arabesque.

    The first work performed was how long does the subject linger on the edge of volume… (2005), which was supposed to be multimedia coming together to make a whole. Instead, the animated visual elements projected on the scrim competed with the movement of the dancers.

    Salvatore Sciarrino’s music of the second work, Geometry of Quiet (2002) was disturbing, there were parts that sounded like stylized coughing. This work was particularly slow and involved cloth banners.

    The evening ended with I love my robots. (2007), which was humorous and involved 2 poles on platforms that moved on their own. It also had a speaking part.

    * Tattling *
    Since the music was so minimal, most of the audience was very quiet for most of the performance. A notable exception was the woman next to us in R 112. She absolutely hated the performance, so I’m not sure why she stayed the entire time. After the second piece, she made light of the choreography by imitating the movements in her chair. Before the last piece ended, she muttered about how it was "stupid." She tried to climb over us during the applause, to no avail.

    Leave a Reply

  • Concerto No. 20 in D Minor for Piano and Orchestra, K. 466

    Radulupu* Notes *
    Radu Lupu played Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 20 last weekend with the San Francisco Symphony. Lupu certainly was comfortable with the material. He was heavy on the pedal in the Romance. The slower bits were most unclear and slightly mushy.

    Lawrence Foster conducted, and for the most part it was fine. However the horn parts in the Allegro assai rondo were not together.

    * Tattling *
    On my way to Davies I heard a pair wondering whether the Mozart was first or last, they were pretty sure it was last. They passed me, and I noticed they were either violinists or violists. As it turns out, Gerhard's Concerto for Orchestra was last. I must admit my weakness, I did skip out on this half.

    People were well-behaved, not that many were seated during the performance, and no one talked. I did notice some humming along and there were watch beeps to signal the hour.

    Leave a Reply