The Opera Tattler

Reviews of Performances and their Audiences

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  • Merola’s 58th Season Participants

    Sopranos
    Kathryn Bowden, Glastonbury, Connecticut
    Cree Carrico, Detroit, Michigan
    Amina Edris, Christchurch, New Zealand
    Madison Leonard, Coeur d’Alene, Idaho
    Meredith Mecum, Hershey, Pennsylvania
    Toni Marie Palmertree, Fleetwood, Pennsylvania

    Mezzo-Sopranos
    Raehann Bryce-Davis, Keene, Texas
    Tara Curtis, Kansas City, Missouri
    Ashley Dixon, Peachtree City, Georgia
    Nicole Woodward, Quincy, Florida

    Tenors
    Christopher Bozeka, Akron, Ohio
    Alasdair Kent, Perth, Australia
    Soonchan Kwon, Daejeon, South Korea
    Michael Papincak, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

    Baritones
    Alex DeSocio, Wichita, Kansas
    Sol Jin, Seoul, South Korea
    Kihun Yoon, Seoul, South Korea

    Bass-Baritones
    Zachary Elmassian, East Lansing, Michigan
    James Ioelu, Auckland, New Zealand
    Austin Siebert, Shelbyville, Indiana
    Brad Walker, Lake Zurich, Illinois

    Basses
    Scott Russell, Roanoke, Virginia
    Ming Zhao, Kaifeng, China

    Apprentice Coaches
    Edoardo Barsotti, Lucca, Tuscany, Italy
    Robert Bosworth, Fort Worth, Texas
    Aaron Breid, Del Mar, California
    Samuel Emanuel, New Rochelle, New York
    Kirill Kuzmin, Moscow, Russia

    Apprentice Stage Director
    Mo Zhou, Nanjing, China

    The Schwabacher Summer Concert, directed by Roy Rallo and conducted by Valéry Ryvkin, at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music is on Thursday, July 9. The free outdoor afternoon Schwabacher will be held at Yerba Buena Gardens on Saturday, July 11. The Merola artists perform a double bill of Menotti's The Medium and Puccini's Gianni Schicchi, on Thursday, July 23 and Saturday, July 25 in the newly-renovated Cowell Theater at Fort Mason. Mark Morash conducts and Peter Kazaras directs.

    Donizetti's Don Pasquale, led by director Nic Muni and conducted by Warren Jones, will be presented on Thursday, August 6 and Saturday, August 8 at the Cowell Theater. The season ends with the participants singing in the annual Merola Grand Finale, led by conductor Antony Walker and directed by Merola Opera Program apprentice stage director Mo Zhou on Saturday, August 22 at the War Memorial Opera House.

    Official Site | Press Releases

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  • Paul Goodwin Conducts SFS

    NewGoodwin_MannyEspinoza* Notes * 
    Conductor Paul Goodwin (pictured left, photograph by Manny Espinoza) is leading the San Francisco Symphony in a rather traditional program of Bach and Mozart this weekend. Goodwin, however, is anything but staid. He has a clear point of view and the orchestra sounds powerful under his direction. Last night's concert began with a stately rendition of J.S. Bach's Orchestral Suite No. 3. The trumpets were particularly vital and in tune.

    These performances mark the San Francisco Symphony debut of soprano Lydia Teuscher, who sang two Mozart arias and Bach's Wedding Cantata. Her voice is bright and pretty. The tenor clarinets were lovely in "Al desio, di chi t'adora." The oboist sounded quite happy in the Bach, and the string soloists also played well. The bass player seemed to be having a lot of fun.

    The evening ended with Mozart, a rousing Symphony No. 31, Paris.

    * Tattling * 
    There was some whispering noted in the orchestra. Someone seated around Row N Seat 5 left in the middle of the Wedding Cantata, climbing over other patrons while quietly apologizing.

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  • Houston Grand Opera’s 2015-2016 Season

    Wortham_CenterOctober 23 – November 14 2015: Tosca
    October 30- November 13 2015: Eugene Onegin
    December 4-20 2015: The Little Prince
    January 23- February 8 2016: Le Nozze di Figaro
    January 29- February 12 2016 : Rusalka
    March 5-13 2016: Prince of Players
    April 16- May 1 2016: Siegfried
    April 22- May 7 2016: Carousel

    Details on the Season | Official Site

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  • PBO’s 2015-2016 Season

    PBO_byRandiBeachOctober 4-10 2015: Scarlatti's La gloria di primavera
    November 12-15 2015: Bach's Brandenburgs with Richard Egarr
    December 2-6 2015: Händel's Ode for St. Cecilia's Day and "Tra amplessi innocenti" and Purcell's Te Deum and Jubilate in D and Suite from Distressed Innocence
    December 19 2015: Händel's Messiah
    February 3-7 2016: Mozart's Concerto for Fortepiano No. 23 with Kristian Bezuidenhout, Symphonies No. 27 and 39
    February 11 2016: Arias from Ariodante and Xerxes with Susan Graham
    March 2-6 2016: Vivaldi's Concerto in D major and Rameau's Suite from Les Fêtes de L'Hymen et de L'Amour
    April 27- May 1 2016: Beethoven's Leonore Overture No. 3, Elegiac Song, and Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage and Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 2, Hymn of Praise

    Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra's 2015-2016 season was announced today. The soloists for the Scarlatti are Suzana Ograjensek, Diana Moore, Clint van der Linde, Nicholas Phan, and Douglas Williams. The soloists for Messiah are Amanda Forsythe, Meg Bragle, Isaiah Bell, and Tyler Duncan. PBO will also tour major North American concert halls in Spring 2016 with guest artists Anne-Sofie von Otter and Andreas Scholl.

    Official Site

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  • LA Opera’s 2015-2016 Season

    F1_1_Dorothy-Chandler-PavilionSeptember 12- October 3 2015: Gianni Schicchi and Pagliacci
    October 8-11 2015: Song From the Uproar
    October 30-31 2015: Dracula
    October 31- November 28 2015: Moby-Dick
    November 21- December 13 2015: Norma
    February 13- March 6 2016: Die Zauberflöte
    March 12- April 3 2016: Madama Butterfly
    May 14- June 12 2016: La bohème
    June 16-19 2016: Anatomy Theater

    Official Site

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  • Lydia Teuscher’s Upcoming SFS Debut

    LydiaTeuscherSoprano Lydia Teuscher (pictured left) is having her San Francisco Symphony debut this Thursday, January 29, 2015 at 2pm with performances on the following two days at 8pm. She will be singing "Al desio, di chi t'adora" from Le nozze di Figaro, "Ruhe sanft, mein holdes Leben" from Zaide, and Weichet nur, betrübte Schatten (Wedding Cantata). Teuscher was a resident artist at the Semperoper in Dresden. She has also performed at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich, the Glyndebourne Festival, and Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin.

    Paul Goodwin will be conducting the performances, replacing Bernard Labadie, who is being treated for a lymphoma. The program also includes Bach's Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D major, BWV 1068 and Mozart's Symphony No. 31 in D major, K.297(300a), Paris.

    Lydia Teuscher | Paul Goodwin | San Francisco Symphony

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  • ABS Performs Acis and Galatea

    Nola_Richardson_3813* Notes *
    This weekend American Bach Soloists is performing Händel’s Acis and Galatea with Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 4. During last night’s Berkeley concert Jeffrey Thomas conducted a crisp, vibrant Acis and Galatea. All of the soloists sang with a fine lucidity and the chorus sounded decisive.

    Nola Richardson (pictured left) had a lovely debut with ABS. Her Galatea is clear voiced and exact. Her Acis, Kyle Stegall, sounded pretty and light. Stegall’s tenor contrasted nicely with Zachary Wilder’s. The latter’s sound is bright and his coloratura in “Consider, fond shepherd” was good. Bass Mischa Bouvier is an imposing Polyphemus. His trio with Richardson and Stegall was great.

    The evening started with Bach. The violin soloist, Elizabeth Blumenstock, was not particularly precise but always quite lively. The recorders, played by Judith Linsenberg and Debra Nagy, sounded elegant, especially in the middle movement Andante.

    * Tattling *
    Parking by First Congregational was exceedingly difficult as there was a basketball game at nearby UC Berkeley.

    The concert ended with an encore by the chorus and orchestra of “Happy We.”

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  • Cecilia Bartoli’s West Coast Tour 2015

    CeciliaBartoli_credit_KWandycz_ParisMatch_ScoopTickets for Cecilia Bartoli's West Coast Sacrificium tour are currently available. She is performing with Sergio Ciomei in Santa Monica on March 21 and 26, in Costa Mesa on March 23, and in Berkeley on March 31 and April 2.

    The Broad Stage | Philharmonic Society of Orange County | Cal Performances | Cecilia Bartoli's Official Site

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  • MTT Conducts L’Histoire du soldat

    Mahler51213* Notes * 
    This weekend Michael Tilson Thomas (pictured left, photograph by Kristen Loken) is conducting seven members of the San Francisco Symphony in performances of Stravinsky’s L’Histoire du soldat. The vivid piece is narrated by Elvis Costello, who does a fine job declaiming his lines. Nick Gabriel (The Soldier) is earnest and Malcolm McDowell (The Devil) certainly is charming. It is adorable when MTT himself speaks the lines of The King in Part II. The playing is incisive and spirited. Concertmaster Alexander Barantschik sounded particularly lovely, as did clarinetist Carey Bell.

    The performance starts with John Adams conducting his 1982 piece Grand Pianola Music, which is being recorded for future release. Adams addresses the audience before commencing the piece, explaining the genesis of the piece and its influences. He also notes a tuba solo in Part I, which he called a “bovine moment.”

    The work, in fact, is startlingly beautiful. The pianists, Orli Shaham and Marc-André Hamelin play cohesively. The orchestra, which included woodwinds, brass, and percussion, sound grounded. Synergy Vocals is wonderfully ethereal, the three singers make for haunting sirens.

    * Tattling * 
    The audience on the orchestra level was very quiet for the John Adams. For the most part people were also quiet for the Stravinsky, but a woman in Row W Seat 102 was compelled to whisper to those adjacent to her as the ensemble played in Part II.

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  • Canadian Opera Company’s 2015-2016 Season

    Four-seasons-centre-house-of-canadian-opera-companyOctober 8- November 6 2015 : La Traviata
    October 20- November 7 2015: Pyramus and Thisbe
    January 23- February 14 2016: Siegfried
    February 4-27 2016: Le Nozze di Figaro
    April 12- May 15 2016: Carmen
    April 29- May 14 2016: Maometto II

    The world premiere of Barbara Monk Feldman’s Pyramus and Thisbe will be performed with Monteverdi’s Il combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda and “Lamento d’Arianna.”

    Details on the Season | Official Site

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