The Opera Tattler

Reviews of Performances and their Audiences

Recent posts

  • Attila Opening at SF Opera

    Sf-opera-attila-actii-scene2-2012* Notes * 
    San Francisco Opera's co-production of Attila (Act II Scene 2 pictured left, photograph by Cory Weaver) opened last night. The orchestra sounded cheerful and lively under Maestro Nicola Luisotti. The woodwinds, harp, and cello made notable contributions. The off-stage brass sounded clear. There were a few synchronization problems with the orchestra, chorus, and principals. This was obvious because Verdi's music, at least in this opera, keeps such predictable tempi.

    Samuel Ramey sounded shaky in the small role of Pope Leo I, but looked dignified. Diego Torre's voice is bright, audible over the orchestra, but has a compressed quality to it. His Foresto was a bit wooden. Similarly, Lucrecia Garcia's Odabella was stiff. Her soprano has lovely resonances to it, but her control is imperfect, most noticeably in her upper register.

    In contrast, Quinn Kelsey (Ezio) has a strong, warm-toned sound. His aria in Act II, "E' gettata la mia sorte," was the high point of the evening. In the title role, Ferruccio Furlanetto was commanding. He has some grit to his beautiful voice, and as ruler of the Huns, it is hardly inappropriate.

    The action on stage, directed by Gabriele Lavia, was disappointing. No one looked particularly comfortable, and having child supernumeraries stand in the middle of the stage, as at the end of Act I, was ill-advised at best. Alessandro Camera's enormous set did not help. The carefully-wrought details made the staging inflexible. Scenes were meant to be transformed by the addition of a ship or a tree bough, but we are clearly in the same set, despite whatever projections happened to show up in the background.

    The most convincing of these changes occurred in the last scene, which is set in a decrepit movie theater, complete with screen and strewn plush seats. While it was entertaining that Douglas Sirk's 1954 film about Attila the Hun, Sign of the Pagan, was played, it could be distracting. Despite my best efforts, I found myself staring more at Jack Palance and Ludmilla Tchérina than the singers.

    * Tattling * 
    The length of Furlanetto's coat knocked over a chair in Act I, and nearly tripped the singer.

    The woman in Row R Seat 7 on the orchestra level talked at full-volume several times during the performance to her companion in Seat 5. My glares at her had almost no effect.

    Chorus Director Ian Robertson marks his twenty-fifth year with the San Francisco Opera this year. He received the San Francisco Opera Medal after last night's performance.

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  • Ojai North! 2012

    Inuksuit-rehearsal-ojai-2012Ojai North! at Cal Performances | Ojai Music Festival

    Ojai North! began on Monday with a free performance of John Luther Adams' Inuksuit (rehearsal in Ojai pictured left, photograph by Timothy Norris). 6 different performances occur from Tuesday through Thursday this week. Performers include pianists Leif Ove Andsnes, Marc-André Hamelin, and Reinbert de Leeuw; mezzo-soprano Christianne Stotijn; and the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra.

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  • SF Opera’s Nixon Media Round-Up

    Sf-opera-nixon-acti-scene2-2012Production Web Site | SF Opera’s Blog

    Reviews of San Francisco Opera’s Nixon in China (Act I Scene 2 pictured left with Chen-Ye Yuan as Chou En-lai, Ginger Costa-Jackson as Nancy T’ang, Buffy Baggott as Second Secretary, Nicole Birkland as Third Secretary, Simon O’Neill as Mao Tse-tung, Patrick Carfizzi as Henry Kissinger, and Brian Mulligan as Richard Nixon; photograph by Cory Weaver) look great.

    Performance Reviews: MusicalCriticism.com | Not For Fun Only | Opera West | San Francisco Chronicle | San Francisco Classical Voice | San José Mercury News | SFist

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  • Dark Sisters at Opera Company of Philadelphia

    Dark-sisters-philadelphia-2012* Notes * 
    Nico Muhly’s Dark Sisters (Act I pictured left, photograph by Richard Termine) had a second performance at Opera Company of Philadelphia this afternoon. The opera, a co-production with Gotham Chamber Opera and Music-Theatre Group, premiered in New York last November with the same cast.

    Neal Goren also conducts the Philadelphia performances, and the small orchestra sounds together and supportive. The opera deals with a polygamist family in the Southwest whose children have been taken by Child Protective Services. Because the cast is made up of six females (five wives and one daughter) and only one male (who plays both husband and television personality), the piece is dominated by high voices. Sometimes the music exactly captured the gallinaceous cackling that tends to emerge from women conversing in a group.

    Kevin Burdette distinguishes his two roles with skill. His voice is occasionally gravelly and lacked warmth, which seems right for this opera. Kristina Bachrach (Lucinda) sounds youthful. Jennifer Zetlan is convincing as the hypocritical, cruel favorite wife Zina. Margaret Lattimore (Presendia), Jennifer Check (Almera), and 
Eve Gigliotti (Ruth) all blend nicely. Gigliotti has the darkest voice of the cast. Caitlin Lynch makes for a believable Eliza. Her voice is pretty and bright.

    The production, directed by Rebecca Taichman, is fairly straightforward. The set, from Mark Grimmer and Leo Warner, makes for smooth transitions, being rather simple and enhanced by lighting and video projections. Miranda Hoffman’s costumes look suitable for followers of the FLDS Church.

    * Tattling * 
    There was some eating and talking from the last row of the Perelman Theater. A latecomer seated himself in the middle of that same row near the beginning of Act I, irritating the woman on the aisle.

    My companion did not appreciate this opera at all, and only perked up when Eliza sang to the Angel Moroni.

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  • Nixon in China Opening at SF Opera

    Sfopera-nixon-hye-jung-lee-2012 * Notes * 
    A new production of Nixon in China had a Bay Area premiere at San Francisco Opera last night. Lawrence Renes conducted a crisp performance, and for the most part the singers were audible over the amplified orchestra. The amplification of the principals and eight members of the chorus made it difficult to gauge the weight of the voices, creating a more uniform quality. The odd flattening of sound and Alice Goodman’s libretto of charming non-sequiturs set to John Adams’ memorable tunes make for a rather disorienting but attractive work.

    The principal cast is convincing. Patrick Carfizzi is an appropriately disturbing Kissinger. Chen-Ye Yuan sang Chou En-lai sympathetically. Simon O’Neill sounded powerful as Mao Tse-tung, his high notes secure. Maria Kanyova impressed as rather human Pat Nixon, a contrast to Hye Jung Lee (pictured above, photograph by Cory Weaver) as Chiang Ch’ing, at least in Act II. Lee is outrageously talented, her voice flexible and lyrical. She could be frightening without ever producing an ugly sound, and could purr lines when necessary. The only picky point one could make is that her accent is noticeable in certain words. Brian Mulligan may not perfectly embody Nixon, being a tad too young, but his movements and expressions are persuasive. Mulligan has an appealing voice, its richness is perhaps dulled by the amplification and the high tessitura of the part.

    Michael Cavanagh’s direction suits the opera rather nicely, not too literal with pleasant touches of whimsy. The set, from Erhard Rom, is uncluttered and lit expertly by Christopher Maravich. The projections, by Sean Nieuwenhuis, make novel use of space. The fluttering flags are a bit contrived, not to mention boring, but most of the other images are effective. Wen Wei Wang’s choreography is acrobatic and the soloists are especially accomplished dancers.

    * Tattling * 
    Fifteen minutes before the performance, David Gockley gave a toast to the press corps covering the opening with Schramsberg sparkling wine, as this was served at the banquet depicted in the opera.

    A loud mobile phone rang twice in center section of the Orchestra Ring during Act II It also rang just before Act III started.

    During the first intermission I checked out the “Photo Corner” at San Francisco Opera, where one is meant to take pictures and upload them to Facebook or Twitter to be entered into a drawing.

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  • Meet the Merolini 2012

    Merolini-06072012-kristen-lokenThe 29 incoming Merolini (pictured left, photograph by Kristen Loken) were interviewed by San Francisco Opera Center Director Sheri Greenawald, Merola Opera Board of Directors Chairman Jayne Davis, and President Donna L. Blacker yesterday evening, in the Green Room of the War Memorial Veterans Building. This year four of the participants are Canadian, two are Chinese, and there is a notable absence of Iowans. We learned that tenor Joshua Baum customizes LEGO minifigures and soprano Aviva Fortunata knits Mexican wrestling mask balaclavas. Tenor AJ Glueckert joked that his dream roles were Papageno and Tosca, the latter because he "likes to throw himself off of things." Apprentice stage director Jennifer Williams was a violist. Chuanyue Wang sang a bit of a Chinese folk song that happens to also be used in Turandot. 18 of the Merolini listed "cooking" as an interest, and tenor Andrew Stenson gave a delightful description of an smoked egg dish with onions and caviar.

    Schwabacher Summer Concert
    Anna Bolena
    Giovanna Seymour: Erin Johnson
    Anna Bolena: Melinda Whittington

    La jolie fille de Perth
    Le Duc de Rothsay: Joshua Baum
    Mab: Erin Johnson
    Henri Smith: Yi Li
    Un ouvrier: Seth Mease Carico
    Ralph: Hadleigh Adams
    Le majordome: Andrew Kroes
    Cathérine Glover: Melinda Whittington

    Mefistofele
    Faust: Chuanyue Wang
    Mefistofele: Andrew Kroes
    Margherita: Elizabeth Baldwin

    The Rake's Progress
    Tom Rakewell: Joshua Baum
    Anne Trulove: Elizabeth Baldwin
    Nick Shadow: Seth Mease Carico

    La finta giardiniera
    Podestà: Casey Candebat
    Sandrina: Jennifer Cherest
    Arminda: Jacqueline Piccolino
    Belfiore: Theo Lebow
    Ramiro: Sarah Mesko
    Serpetta: Rose Sawvel
    Nardo: Gordon Bintner

    ***

    Postcard from Morocco
    Man with a Paint Box: AJ Glueckert
    Lady with a Cake Box: Aviva Fortunata
    Lady with a Hat Box: Carolyn Sproule
    Lady with a Hand Mirror: Suzanne Rigden
    Man with Old Luggage: Andrew Stenson
    Man with the Shoe Sample Kit: Joseph Lattanzi
    Man with a Cornet Case: Matthew Scollin

    ***

    This year the Opera Standees Association is sponsoring Andrew Kroes and Chuanyue Wang.

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  • Final Dress of SF Opera’s Nixon in China

    Nixon-in-China-Poster-SFOpera * Notes *
    The final dress rehearsal of San Francisco Opera's Nixon in China (Michael Schwab's poster pictured left) was held yesterday at the War Memorial Opera House. The music seems quite challenging, but is sounding strong. Maestro Lawrence Renes stopped the orchestra in Act II as the playing was too loud, even though all the singers are amplified. It is hard to believe this orchestra has two other operas opening in the coming week, and just gave a concert of symphonic music last Sunday. The cast is excellent, and one looks forward to the local premiere on this Friday at 8pm.

    * Tattling *
    Box K was designated for live tweeting. I did not join in, as I am not skilled enough to listen and write at the same time, at least, without feeling strain.

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  • Luisotti & Peled with the SF Opera Orchestra

    A--San-Francisco-Opera-Orchestra* Notes * 
    Cal Performances hosted Nicola Luisotti and the San Francisco Opera Orchestra (pictured left, photograph by Cory Weaver) on Sunday afternoon, their second this season in Berkeley. The concert began with Prokofiev's First Symphony, and the orchestra sounded best in the graceful, dancing third movement. The woodwinds were clear, as was the brass. The piece that followed, Haydn's Cello Concerto No. 1, featured soloist Amit Peled. Peled played with a beautiful, legato line. After intermission we heard Symphony in D Major by Cherubini. The playing was charming and joyous. It was lovely to see and hear this opera orchestra on stage, the camaraderie of the players and their love of music is apparent.

    * Tattling *
    There was very little noise from the audience. A man in Row A Seat 120 of the mezzanine looked at his phone at 3:30pm and left just a little afterward. Someone else on this level screamed an obscenity after the Moderato of the Haydn. It was unclear why.

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  • Robertson conducts SFS in Dvořák

    David-robertson-michael-tammaro* Notes * 
    David Robertson (pictured left, photograph by Michael Tammaro) conducts San Francisco Symphony in Rossini, Chopin, and Dvořák this week. The overture to L'italiana in Algeri that opened yesterday's performance sounded neat and precise. Chopin's Concerto No. 2 in F minor for Piano and Orchestra, Opus 21 also was together and clean. The soloist, Nelson Freire, seemed contained and self-possessed. His quiet playing was most impressive, especially in the Larghetto.

    After the intermission the orchestra gave a tidy rendition of Dvořák's 7th. The middle movements, the Poco adagio and the Scherzo: Vivace, were jaunty and charming. The brass sounded clear.

    * Tattling * 
    There was a lot of talking during the first half of the performance, at least on the odd numbered side of the orchestra level. A woman in Row U Seat 9 even opened up her purse during the last movement of the Chopin, and passed out candies to her friends in Row W. Much crinkling followed as they opened their sweets. Most of the noisiest patrons around us did not return after intermission.

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  • SF Opera’s 2012 Nixon in China Poster

    Nixon-in-China-Poster-SFOperaMichael Schwab has created a poster for San Francisco Opera‘s upcoming Nixon in China. The opera has a Bay Area premiere on June 8, 2012. Schwab made a lovely poster last year for the Ring. The graphic artist will be signing his work at the San Francisco Opera shop on June 17, 2012, after the performance that afternoon.

    Press Release | Michael Schwab’s Official Site

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