The Opera Tattler

Reviews of Performances and their Audiences

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  • SoundBox’s Outré

    IMG_0914* Notes *
    SoundBox's latest program, titled Outré, featured French avant-garde music over seven centuries. Beautifully curated, the engaging music ranged from Pérotin's polyphonic Sederunt principes with a cappella male voices and portative organ to Messiaen's Couleurs de la cité celeste for solo piano and instrumental ensemble, including the many gongs seen in the photograph to the left.

    Michael Tilson Thomas lead the musicians and amiably talked the audience through the pieces one by one. Selections from Jean-Féry Rebel's Les élémens was a cheerful place to start, and the sprightly French Baroque music was such fun. This certainly set the stage for the program to come.

    It was lovely to hear the musicians of San Francisco Symphony in this more intimate venue. Principal oboist Eugene Izotov played Ravel's Pièce en forme de Habanera and Saint-Saëns' Molto allegro from Oboe Sonata in D major, while principal flutist Tim Day played Debussy's Syrinx. Principal percussionist Jacob Nissly especially impressed in Darius Milhaud's Concerto for Percussion and Small Orchestra, Opus 109. Ending with an excerpt of Milhaud's Scaramouche was a festive touch.

    The French-inspired garden installation designed by Luke Kritzeck with a digital reflecting pool by video designer Adam Larsen was rather pretty. The videos during the music did not distract but did not look like screensavers either.

    Tattling *
    The youngish audience was mostly quiet. There seats are not guaranteed for these sold-out events and we were lucky enough to find a friend in line just before 8pm. Those who did not line up mostly milled about at the back of the venue, though a couple did stand directly in front of my date (we were seated by the west side of the first stage) for the second set.

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  • Kentridge’s Winterreise

    Kentridge-winterreise-sf-2016* Notes *
    SF Opera Lab began with visual artist William Kentridge's production of Winterreise last weekend. His beautiful meditations on Schubert's Lieder are deeply immersive and the incredible performers, baritone Matthias Goerne and pianist Markus Hinterhäuser though very talented, seemed almost incidental to the work.

    The effect Kentridge gets with mostly black and white projections on a surface layered with paper is compelling, so much so that it was hard for me to focus in on the music. The landscapes and figures dancing or walking across dictionary pages completely held my attention for the 80 minute performance, which seemed much shorter to me.

    Goerne has an absolutely gorgeous voice, vital and strong, but I was glad I had heard him before, because in this it might have been lost on me. The sound in the Taube Atrium Theater seemed properly adjusted, some of the weird echoey effects noticed at Daniel Okulitch's Schwabacher were not in evidence.

    Tattling *
    The audience was quiet. We were asked to look at our programs before the performance began and the lights were kept off, so browsing the translations was not a true option.

    The much-touted cup holders were not in use, as we were asked to not bring beverages into the hall for this performance.

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  • SF Opera Lab Preview

    Sfopera-lab-2016My preview of San Francisco Opera's series at the Taube Atrium Theater and new audience initiatives for classical music organizations such as SoundBox, PIVOT, and Berkeley RADICAL is up on KQED Arts.

    I heard no less than three performances at the Wilsey Center for Opera: the first iteration of ChamberWORKS that I already described, an Adler recital for donors, and the second Schwabacher recital in the space, which featured bass-baritone Daniel Okulitch and pianist John Churchwell. Definitely curious about the William Kentridge production of Winterreise this weekend to be held as the first official event of SF Opera Lab.

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  • Opera San José’s 2016-2017 Season

    September 10–25 2016: Lucia di Lammermoor
    November 12–26 2016: Il barbiere di Siviglia
    February 8–24 2017: Kevin Puts' Silent Night
    April 15–30 2017: La bohème

    There are four operas scheduled for next season at Opera San José, including the West Coast premiere of Kevin Put's Silent Night.

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  • SF Symphony’s 2016-2017 Season

    September 7 2016: MTT conducts Steve Reich, Rossini; Renée Fleming, soprano and Susan Graham, mezzo-soprano
    September 8 2016: MTT conducts Copland, Vivaldi, Rossini; Susanna Phillips, soprano and Alexander Barantschik, violin
    September 9-10 2016: MTT conducts Copland, Reich; Susanna Phillips, soprano and eighth blackbird, chamber ensemble
    September 11 2016: MTT conducts Steve Reich 80th Birthday Celebration
    September 14-17 2016: MTT conducts Haydn, Sibelius, Beethoven
    September 18 2016: MTT conducts Beethoven Discovery Concert
    September 22-24 2016: MTT conducts Marcello, Berio, Verdi; Michael Fabiano, tenor; Swingle Singers, vocal ensemble; Eugene Izotov, oboe
    September 28- October 1 2016: MTT conducts Bright Sheng, Shostakovich, Stravinsky; Yuja Wang, piano; Mark Inouye, trumpet
    October 9 2016: Vincent Dubois, organ
    October 13-15 2016: Brad Lubman conducts 2001: A Space Odyssey
    October 16 2016: Chamber Music with members of SFS
    October 19-22 2016: Pablo Heras-Casado conducts Mozart, Schumann, Dvořák; Alisa Weilerstein, cello
    October 23 2016: Chamber Music with members of SFS
    October 27-30 2016: MTT conducts Allegri, Mozart, Brahms; Rudolph Buchbinder, piano; Pacific Boychoir
    October 31- November 1 2016: Gustavo Dudamel conducts Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra
    November 2-4 2016: MTT conducts Chopin and Bruckner; Yuja Wang, piano
    November 5 2016: Día de los Muertos Concert
    November 6 2016: Jacek Kaspszyki conducts Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra; Yulianna Avdeevat, piano
    November 9-22 2016: Asia Tour with Yuja Wang
    November 20 2016: Christian Reif conducts SFS Youth Orchestra
    November 22-23 2016: Simon Rattle conducts Berlin Philharmonic
    December 3 2016: Edwin Outwater conducts Music for Families
    December 4 2016: Chamber Music with members of SFS
    December 4 2016: Yu Long conducts China Philharmonic Orchestra; Julian Rachlin, violin
    December 9-10 2016: SoundBox
    December 11 2016: Christian Reif conducts SFS Youth Orchestra in Peter and the Wolf
    December 11 2016: A Merri-achi Christmas
    December 15-17 2016: Patrick Dupré Quigley conducts Messiah
    January 7-8 2017: David Newman conducts On the Waterfront
    January 13-15 2017: MTT conducts Mahler
    January 16 2017: Itzak Perlman, violin & Rohan De Silva, piano
    January 21-24 2016: James Gaffigan conducts Musssorgsky, Prokofiev, Mozart, and R. Strauss; Simone Lamsma, violin
    January 20-21 2017: SoundBox
    January 26-28 2017: Lionel Bringuier conducts Kodály, Ravel, Beethoven; Jean-Yves Thibaudet, piano
    January 28 2017: Edwin Outwater conducts Music for Families
    January 29 2017: Chamber Music with members of SFS
    January 29 2017: Emmanuel Villaume conducts Prague Philharmonia; Gautier Capuçon, cello
    February 1-3 2017: Herbert Blomstedi conducts Beethoven
    February 4 2017: Chinese New Year Concert
    February 5 2017: Chamber Music with members of SFS
    February 7 2017: Lang Lang, piano
    February 9-12 2017: Herbert Blomstedt conducts Beethoven and Brahms; Yefim Bronfman, piano
    February 10-11 2017: SoundBox
    February 16-18 2017: Joana Carneiro conducts John Adams’ The Gospel According to the Other Mary
    February 19 2017: Chamber Music with members of SFS
    February 22-25 2017: MTT conducts John Adams, Prokofiev; Leila Josefowicz, violin
    February 26 2017: James O’Donnell, organ
    March 1-4 2017: MTT conducts Gnesin, Shostakovich, Tchaikovsky; Gautier Capuçon, cello
    March 5 2017: Christian Reif conducts SFS Youth Orchestra
    March 9-12 2017: Marek Janowski conducts Beethoven, Hindemith, Brahms; Arabella Steinbacher, violin
    March 10-11 2017: SoundBox
    March 13 2017: András Schiff, piano
    March 16-18 2017: Juraj Valčuha conducts Schreker, Barber, Beethoven; Gil Shaham, violin
    March 18 2017: Christian Reif conducts Music for Families
    March 19 2017: Chamber Music with members of SFS
    March 19-20 2017: Yuri Temirkanov conducts St. Petersburg Philharmonic
    March 23-24 2017: MTT conducts Cage, Robin Holloway, Bartók; Jeffrey Anderson, tuba
    March 25-26 2017: MTT conducts Cage, Bruch, Bartók; Nicola Benedetti, violin
    March 26 2017: Anne-Sophie Mutter, violin and Lambert Orkis, piano
    March 30- April 2 2017: MTT conducts Mahler
    April 2-3 2017: Fabio Luisi conducts Danish National Orchestra
    April 5-8 2017: US Tour
    April 7 2017: Ragnar Bohlin conducts San Francisco Symphony Chorus
    April 14-15 2017: SoundBox
    April 14-15 2017: Emil de Cou conducts Raiders of the Lost Ark
    April 19-22 2017: Andrés Orozco-Estrada conducts Prokofiev and Rachmaninoff; Denis Kozhukhin, piano
    April 27-29 2017: Fabio Luisi conducts Schumann and R. Strauss; Igor Levit, piano
    April 30 2017: Chamber Music with members of SFS
    May 4-6 2017: Charles Dutoit conducts Berlioz’s Requiem; Paul Groves, tenor
    May 7 2017: Chamber Music with members of SFS
    May 10-13 2017: Charles Dutoit conducts Sibelius, Mozart, Falla, Debussy; Emanuel Ax, piano
    May 14 2017: Christian Reif conducts SFS Youth Orchestra
    May 17-21 2017: Roberto Abbado conducts Schumann and Mendelssohn; Veronika Eberle, violin
    May 25-27 2017: Manfred Honeck conducts Shostakovich and Tchaikovsky; Matthias Goerne, baritone
    May 28 2017: Chamber Music with members of SFS
    May 31- June 1 2017: Alexander Barantschik, violin leads Vivaldi, Mozart, J.S. Bach
    June 2-3 2017: Sarah Hicks conducts Casablanca
    June 3 2017: Christian Reif conducts Music for Families
    June 4 2017: Wayne Marshall, organ
    June 9-11 2017: Susanna Mälkki conducts Debussy, Beethoven, Stravinsky; Garrick Ohlsson, piano
    June 15-18 2017: Vasily Petrenko conducts Glinka, Lalo, Rachmaninoff; Joshua Bell, violin
    June 23-25 2017: MTT conducts Ives, MTT, Harrison, Antheil; Measha Brueggergosman, mezzo-soprano
    June 28- July 1 2017: MTT conducts Berlioz’s Roméo et Juliette; Sasha Cooke, mezzo-soprano; Nicholas Phan, tenor; and Luca Pisaroni, bass-baritone

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  • ABS Performs Alexander’s Feast

    Abs-alexanders-feast-2016* Notes *
    American Bach Soloists gave a splendid performance of the fittingly titled Alexander's Feast, or The Power of Music yesterday afternoon in San Francisco. The oratorio by Händel is adapted from John Dryden's ode for Saint Cecilia's Day of the same name.

    ABS was played with the composer's Concerto in B-Flat Major for Harp after the second recitative and Concerto Grosso in C Major before Part Two. The harp concerto was especially impressive. Maria Christina Cleary played the triple harp with a fearless and sparkling intensity.

    Maestro Jeffrey Thomas kept the proceedings clean and neat. Only the horns had a brief misstep in the middle of the first half, but regained their footing as far as intonation is concerned. The chorus sounded robust and cohesive.

    Tenor Aaron Sheehan sounded bright and had some incredible breath control as was evidenced by his first air, "Happy, Happy, happy Pair!" He was fittingly strident in "War, he sung, is Toil and trouble." I also liked soprano Anna Gorbachyova, who has an icy, resonant sound. Baritone William Sharp could be gravelly and thin in his lower register but was otherwise fine.

    * Tattling *
    The rows and seats in the balcony of St. Mark's were unmarked because of a problem with a printer, leading to a fair amount of confusion that was resolved by a helpful usher.

    Beeps and rings were heard during both halves of the performance.

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  • Atrium Theater’s Inaugural Event

    Sfoperalab-qa* Notes *
    SF Opera Lab held the first event at the new Taube Atrium Theater last night. The evening was open to certain San Francisco Opera donors but involved having to call the box office to reserve tickets, as the space only has 299 seats.

    The theater is part of the Diane B. Wilsey Center for Opera, which consolidates SF Opera's operations on the fourth floor and basement of the Veterans Building. The space, which originally housed SFMOMA, includes an education studio that can also be used as a rehearsal venue, a costume studio, the San Francisco Opera Archive, exhibition galleries, and administrative offices. The opera moved in two weeks ago, though not everything is quite done, there has been painting and such in the interim.

    The performance ended up being a salon curated by members of the San Francisco Opera Orchestra, part of SF Opera Lab's ChamberWORKS series. The intimate setting had a casual feel, performers addressed the audience and introduced many of the pieces. There was no printed program, instead titles were projected over digital wallpapers from the Cooper Hewitt.

    The performance started with cellist Thalia Moore playing Vivaldi's Sonata No. 6 in B flat major, RV 46 accompanied by Adler Fellow Ronny Michael Greenberg on harpsichord who were joined by flutist Stephanie McNab, percussionist Rick Kvistad, and mezzo-soprano Adler Zanda Švēde, who sang a setting of ten Shakespeare sonnets to music by Pauls Miervaldis Dambis. Dambis seems to have a penchant for the Renaissance, hence the harpsichord rather than the piano.

    Greenberg did shift to playing piano, and one of the highlights of the evening was certainly Robert Muczynski's Sonata for Flute and Piano Op. 14. Played with verve by Stephanie McNab, Greenberg's playing was crisp and supportive. We also got to hear a piece of Kvistad's called "Blues for Wilsey," in which the percussionist plays a drum set along with the other musicians playing their respective instruments. Greenberg played piano in this and McNab played both flute and piccolo.

    The performance was capped by the Habanera and Seguidilla from Bizet's Carmen, accompaniment arranged for vibes, cello, flute, and piano by Peter Grunberg. Švēde is brilliant, getting the emotional import of all the words through her voice. She made her entrance through the audience, and it was a testament to how great the Meyer Sound system is, because it sounded nicely balanced — not too loud or dry.

    * Tattling *
    The audience was extremely focused and quiet. It was fun hearing the musicians speak, especially Kvistad, who joked the more he studied music, the less notes he was allowed to play, especially at the opera, where he must be the highest paid musician per note.

    The theater can get rather warm, and the controls to the AC system have apparently not been handed over to the opera yet, as we learned from the Q&A with the performers and Elkhanah Pulitzer, Director of Programming for the SF Opera Lab (pictured above). Also, one of the lenses of the projection system needs replacement, most of the images were pretty blurry.

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  • West Bay Opera’s Eugene Onegin

    Wbo-onegin-2016* Notes *
    My review of West Bay Opera's Eugene Onegin is up on San Francisco Classical Voice.

    * Tattling *
    The Lucie Stern Community Center was secured for much of the performance on Sunday because Hillary Clinton was having an event there while the opera was going on. The general director of West Bay Opera joked that he had asked Hillary for a "Secretary of Opera" if she wins the election.

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  • Opera Parallèle’s Champion

    Champion-058_pub* Notes *
    Champion: An Opera in Jazz had an impressive opening last night in San Francisco. As always, Opera Parallèle, which co-produced the 2013 work with SFJAZZ, gave an impeccable performance as far as playing, singing, and production values. Based on the life of bisexual boxer Emile Griffith, Terence Blanchard's music has much to recommend it, but it is hardly a perfect work and the libretto from Michael Cristofer can sound trite.

    The piece shifts from different time periods, so there are three singers that play Emile Griffith, often even at the same time as the character remembers his past. All of the singers are very compelling. Bass Arthur Woodley is Griffith as an elderly man suffering from dementia, his voice is warm and rich, and his performance is sympathetic and haunting. Bass-baritone Kenneth Kellogg as Griffith in his prime has a lighter sound, but is no less convincing. Sharing the role of Little Emile with Evan Holloway, Moses Abrahamson sounded utterly angelic.

    Everyone else was fantastic as well, including the twelve person chorus that played paraders, reporters, and boxing fans. Standouts included Robert Orth as Emile's trainer Howie Albert and Karen Slack as his mother Emelda Griffith. The way both of these singers wholly embodied their characters was completely convincing.

    Maestra Nicole Paiement seamlessly conducted a small orchestra of twenty-six and a jazz trio. The music has some wonderful percussion, and the upbeat ensembles were particularly good, including a trio from Kellogg, Slack and Orth in Act I. The drama is weirdly static perhaps because we are seeing much of the action through a main character that clearly has brain disease. The pacing could be sluggish, making the opera, which is only 145 minutes of music, feel long, perhaps because some of the words did not sit well with the vocal lines.

    Director Brian Staufenbiel has created a characteristically stylish production, using layered platforms and screens to dazzling effect. The video projections took us through the ten scenes without being overwhelming, cheesy, or confusing.

    * Tattling * 
    There was a small child (apparently a student of percussion) in the audience two rows ahead of me (Row H Seat 18 or thereabouts) that managed to be quiet the entire opera.

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  • Met Opera’s 2016-17 Season

    Metropolitan_Opera_House_At_Lincoln_Center_2September 26- October 27 2016 : Tristan und Isolde
    September 27 2016- May 11 2017: Don Giovanni
    September 28 2016- January 14 2017: La Bohème
    October 4-29 2016: L'Italiana in Algeri
    October 18- November 12 2016: Guillaume Tell
    October 28- November 17 2016: Jenufa
    November 5 2016- April 20 2017: Aida
    November 14- December 10 2016: Manon Lescaut
    December 1-29 2016: L'Amour de Loin
    December 5-28 2016: Salome
    December 12 2016- January 7 2017: Nabucco
    December 20 2016- January 5 2017: The Magic Flute
    December 31 2016- March 18 2017: Roméo et Juliette
    January 9-February 11 2017: Il Barbiere di Siviglia
    January 20-April 27 2017: Rigoletto
    February 2- March 2 2017: Rusalka
    February 10-28 2017: Il Puritani
    February 16- March 9 2017: Werther
    February 24- April 14 2017: La Traviata
    March 6-25 2017: Idomeneo
    March 16- April 8 2017: Fidelio
    March 30- April 22 2017: Eugene Onegin
    April 13- May 13 2017: Der Rosenkavalier
    April 25- May 12 2017: Der Fliegende Holländer
    May 2-13 2017: Cyrano de Bergerac

    The Met announced the 2016-2017 season today. There will be 225 performances of 26 operas, including six new productions. The new productions are Tristan und Isolde, Guillaume Tell, L'Amour de Loin, Roméo et Juliette, Rusalka, and Der Rosenkavalier.

    Online 2016-2017 Brochure | Official Site

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