The Opera Tattler

Reviews of Performances and their Audiences

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  • La scuola degli amanti

    The last opera of the season was Così fan tutte, which also had opened it last Fall. The co-production, owned by Opera Monte Carlo and San Francisco Opera, was produced by John Cox and directed by Jose Maria Condemi. Robert Perdziola’s charming set was updated to a WWI era resort, which worked splendidly. Fiordiligi does have one ugly costume of fushsia and aqua in Act II, but this is a minor quibble.

    The cast was fairly strong. Soprano Alexandra Deshorties was a fine Fiordiligi, her voice is pretty and controlled. Frederica von Stade acted well as Despina, but her voice was breathy and slightly dull. Flicka is, of course, renowned and a favorite at San Francisco, but past her prime. The audience cheered her ecstatically anyway.

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  • Fishing

    Pearl-fishers The joint San Diego Opera and Michigan Opera Theatre production of Les Pêcheurs de Perles might have been pleasant, despite its absurd Orientalist plot, unsynchronized dancing (courtesy of the San Francisco Ballet), and lurid set, but in the end it is Bizet who lets us down. One should not end one's opera by sending away the two lead singers, the tenor and soprano, leaving the mediocre baritone to mutter the few last lines. In this particular staging, the latter is loudly shot, but it hardly matters, there is no music to disturb.

    Zandra Rhodes' stunningly bright set and costumes were amusing at best, and perhaps a bit hard on the eyes. Baritone William Dazeley was slightly reedy, but his duet with tenor Charles Castronovo in the first act was lovely. Soprano Norah Amsellem had a rich, full tone, she was definitely the best part of the whole show, and also doesn't look too bad in a sari, even one overwhelmingly yellow and pink.

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  • Eugene Onegin

    The Netherlands Opera production of Eugene Onegin ended its run at San Francisco Opera today. Director Johannes Schaaf finally brought us something that is stripped down but works, unlike the ugly minimalism of Kát’a Kabanová, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, or Il Barbiere di Siviglia. The lines are clean, but one doesn’t feel as if one is stuck in an IKEA furnished flat in Berlin. The birch grove in the first scene is pretty, but not ornate. Undoubtedly, the designer who worked on this, Peter Pabst, had a part in making the set so. The highlight of the staging for the audience was in Act III. An enormous chandelier was lit from below, causing a chain reaction all the way around and up. Bambi Uden did a good job with the choreography, especially in Scene 4, during Tatyana’s birthday party, when the chorus linked arms and danced.

    In the title role for the first seven performances, baritone Russell Braun was a bit on the quiet side, this was noticeable as it is usually the tenor with this problem. Lucas Meachem also seemed to do well as Onegin, but I was in the orchestra, and the sound is somewhat distorted there. In contrast, tenor Piotr Beczala was absolutely wonderful, his tone sweet and volume powerful. Soprano Elena Prokina was also excellent as Tatyana, very convincing. Mezzo-soprano Allyson McHardy was charming as Olga, her voice was lovely in the opening with Prokina, and her acting was fiery in Scene 4.

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  • Der Fliegende Holländer at SFO

    The last performance of Der Fliegende Holländer this season was this evening. The production came from the Lyric Opera of Chicago, and was directed by Nikolaus Lehnhoff. Raimund Bauer’s set was stark and Andrea Schmidt-Futterer’s costumes were reminiscent of samurai from space. Denni Sayers’ choreography was slightly clunky, the women spinning their hair was especially absurd.

    Soprano Nina Stemme was good as Senta, her voice is has a fine clarity. Bass-baritone Juha Uusitalo was sufficient as the Dutchman, certainly a very strong voice, perhaps lacking in beauty.

    The thing that struck me the most about this performance was not the production, but the music. It is filled with drama and excitement, it is more like opera than Wagner’s later works. The lack of intermission made the whole work very immediate, one stays in the same world for 150 minutes.

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  • Le Grande Macabre

    The last performance of Ligeti’s Le Grande Macabre this season was this afternoon. I must admit, I only went out of force of habit, as I had attended a performance of this the previous month and was duly unimpressed. Ligeti’s music is cacophonous, the libretto is absurd, and the production involved cross-dressing, spousal abuse, Venus suspended in mid-air, her nipples modestly covered with pasties.

    Amando and Amanda’s choreography was particularly odd, though the singers, Sara Gulgoni and Anne-Sophie Duprels had pretty voices. The White and Black politicians (John Duykers and Joshua Bloom, respectively) were amusing, readily understood as the opera is in English. Caroline Stein sang well as both Venus and Gepopo, especially the latter. Her voice is clear and cold. Her movement as Gepopo was also excellent.

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  • Tosca

    Sara Jobin conducted this particular performance of Tosca, and it was her San Francisco Opera debut, and the first time a woman has conducted during the main season of this opera house. The production is one owned by San Francisco Opera, and is revived every two or three years.

    Soprano Carol Vaness has the dubious honor of being one of my least favorite singers. She was much more quiet than previously as Floria Tosca and somewhat breathy.

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  • La Traviata

    The alternate cast for San Francisco Opera’s La Traviata was stunningly good. The perennial favorite, soprano Ruth Ann Swenson, was replaced by Mary Dunleavy in the last two performances. Swenson is very precise, her tone is extremely sweet and bell-like. Dunleavy is perhaps more vital, her voice is very strong. Baritone Željko Lučić sang beautifully as Germont, his aria in Act II, "Di Provenza il mar," was excellent.

    Otherwise, tenor Rolando Villazón was impressive as Alfredo, his voice is also quite sweet and rich. The flamenco dancers in Act III were disappointing, those ballet dancers have nothing like duende. John Conklin’s set and David Walker’s costumes were just as one would expect, Verdi would not be surprised, at any rate.

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  • Akhnaten

    Oakland Opera Theater is just finishing a run of performances of Philip Glass’ Akhnaten at the Oakland Metro. This was the West Coast premiere of this work which dates from 1984. Director Ellen Sebastian Chang did not have much to work with, yet she was able to pull it off somehow, setting the opera both in the contemporary and ancient. The singing was pretty good overall, but the music itself sounded like something fit for a movie score.

    Cast:
    Akhnaten – Paul Flight, countertenor
    Nefertiti – Katherine Growdon, mezzo-soprano
    Queen Tye – Angela Dean-Baham, soprano
    Horemhab – Martin Bell, baritone
    Aye – John Minagro, bass
    Amon – Alan Cochran, tenor
    Amenhotep – Michael Mohammed, baritone

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  • Billy Budd

    Britten’s Billy Budd returned to San Francisco Opera for the second time in twenty years. Willy Decker’s sedate and elegant production was designed by Wolfgang Gussmann and staged by Sabine Hartmannshenn. The music was certainly more charming than Britten’s work Death in Venice, particularly the absurd duet "Don’t Like The French!," whose words include "hoppity-skippity ways." No one less than E.M. Forster wrote the libretto. Baritone Nathan Gunn in the title role did rather well, he is also a good actor.

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  • Lohengrin

    LohengrinseattleStephen Wadsworth's production of Lohengrin at Seattle Opera was dull. The set, designed by Thomas Lynch, was angular and somewhat tawdry. The worst part was definitely the end, when the swan appeared. It was this over-sized robot, reminiscent of a Disneyland character. The best part may have been soprano Jane Eaglen, who is certainly more suited for Ortrud than for Turandot or Ariadne.

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