The Opera Tattler

Reviews of Performances and their Audiences

Recent posts

  • Radiohead at the HP Pavilion

    Radiohead-show-san-jose-2012* Notes *
    Radiohead played a show at the HP Pavilion in San Jose on Wednesday, before heading south to Santa Barbara and Coachella. Though half of a dozen of the songs played were from The King of Limbs, the show featured works from nearly all of Radiohead's albums. The visual aspect of the performance was striking. There were many screens on wires that were arranged in a variety of ways above the stage, sometimes showing images of the performers. Thom Yorke danced quite a bit, in his characteristic fluid manner. Much of the audience was also dancing.

    * Tattling *
    The audience was very excited and there was not a lot of talking. I was befuddled that the performance was taking place in a hockey arena, and imagined what would happen if the ice were not covered.

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  • Jeff Mangum at the Fox Theater

    Jeff-mangum-show-oakland-2012* Notes *
    Jeff Mangum played the first of two shows at the Fox Theater in Oakland yesterday as part of his current West Coast tour. Mangum performed a dozen Neutral Milk Hotel songs, most from In the Aeroplane over the Sea. He also sang Daniel Johnston’s “True Love Will Find You in the End” in the middle of the set. Various brass instrumentalists joined in on songs, including Scott Spillane, who also opened with Andrew Reiger and Laura Carter of Elf Power. A cellist joined for at least one of the pieces. Magnum has a somewhat raw, metallic voice that has reedy qualities to it as well. He urged the audience to sing along with him, and his performance was rather heartfelt and warm. Mangum gave two encores, the first consisted of “Ferris Wheel on Fire” and “In the Aeroplane Over the Sea,” and ended the show with “Engine.”

    * Tattling *
    The audience in the friends and family area talked rather intently, especially if the songs were not from the aforementioned Neutral Milk Hotel album In the Aeroplane over the Sea.

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  • Chicago Opera Theater’s 2013 Season

    February 23- March 1 2013: Glass' The Fall of the House of Usher
    April 20-28 2013: Piazzolla's María de Buenos Aires
    September 14-22 2013: Verdi's Giovanna d’Arco

    General Director Andreas Mitisek announced Chicago Opera Theater's 2013 season today.

    Official Site

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  • Ute Lemper at SF Performances

    SFP-UteLemper-03* Notes *
    Last night Ute Lemper (pictured left), the Vogler Quartet, and Stefan Malzew made their San Francisco debut at Herbst Theatre. The performance commenced with the three of Schulhoff's Five Pieces for String Quartet (1924), played by the Vogler Quartet. Before Lemper took the stage, Malzew brought out his accordion and clarinet, and set up by the piano opposite the quartet.

    The songs began with Piaf, first "Elle fréquentait la Rue Pigalle" and then "L'accordéoniste." In between she explained the narrative of the performance, not only of the individual songs, but of a journey from Paris to Berlin and then eastwards and southwards, around the world, only to end back in Europe. She introduced the other musicians and was sure to point out that Malzew had arranged all the songs. Two Weill pieces followed, "Surabaya Johnny" from Happy End and "Mack the Knife" ("Die Moritat von Mackie Messer") from The Threepenny Opera (Die Dreigroschenoper). These were sung with phrases in English and German, as were the Eisler songs that came next, these being "Der Graben," "Über den Selbstmord," and "Ballad vom Wasserrad." They went right into the Russian folksong "Tyomnaja Notch" ("Тeмная ночь") and ended the first half of the program with Alberstein's "Stiller Abend," sung in Yiddish. Lemper bends the vowels rather dramatically, so it is difficult to understand exactly what words she is singing. Nonetheless, she communicated the meaning of the text anyway, by her manner and movements.

    After the intermission we heard the rest of the Schulhoff piece, then Alberstein's "Ikh stey unter a Bokserboym." There were issues with the amplification, and one of the speakers hummed noisily. This was rectified for the Piazolla songs "Yo Soy Maria," "Oblivion," and "La última grela." This was perhaps the weakest part of an otherwise intensely engaging evening. Thankfully, Brel's "Chanson de Jacky," "Ne me quitte pas," and "Amsterdam" were performed with verve. The encore was a startling improvisation of Weill's "Speak Low," which featured Lemper scat singing with each of the other musicians in turn. Lemper is completely fearless. Her voice has not a trace of prettines. It is a sound that is the epitome of "jolie laide," somehow both beautiful and ugly at once, or even beautiful because of its ugliness.

    * Tattling *
    The audience clapped for each of Schulhoff's pieces. Someone may have booed during the ovation before intermission, and there was noticeable attrition after the first half. Someone else was very excited to hear Ms. Lemper, screaming "Ute" perhaps a dozen times.

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  • SFCM’s Così fan tutte

    Cosi fan tutte* Notes *
    San Francisco Conservatory of Music‘s spring opera this year is Così fan tutte (Sergio González, Kate Allen, Julie Adams, and Efraín Solís pictured left in Act I, photograph by Betsy Kershner), which opened at Cowell Theater last night. The orchestra was lead by the resident conductor of San Francisco Opera, Giuseppe Finzi, who kept the students together despite the challenges of the space. The tempi were rapid, perhaps even somewhat rushed, but the playing approached a certain crispness not usually heard in Cowell, as the pit is not ideal.

    The singers were all quite game, acting and singing with exuberance. Randall Bunnell (Don Alfonso) sounded light and fresh. Sergio González may have sung the role of Ferrando rather gingerly at times, but made it all the way through the piece without a problem. Efraín Solís sang Guglielmo with richness and volume. Julie Adams (Fiordiligi) has lovely high notes, though her low ones lack the same pleasant resonances. Kate Allen (Dorabella) has a strong, pretty voice. Soprano Maya Kherani was a charming, engaging Despina, and really hammed it up as the Doctor and the Notary.

    The production, directed by Heather Mathews, is frothy and silly. Perhaps this is most appropriate for students, but it did not leave much room for the characters to develop. The set involves various arches, pillars, and such that could be turned around or pulled here and there to change the scenes. There were a lot of whimsical details, such as apparent trios of winged jelly donuts atop each of the two arches. The choreography was similarly cute. The chorus did have some trouble marching on beat for “Bella vita militar,” but otherwise the movements and gestures all read well.

    * Tattling *
    There was some sort of frilly painted piece of wood at the beginning of Act II, Scene 1 that I was not able to make sense of, at first it seemed like a bed, but then Despina walked behind it. Perhaps it was a bathtub? In any case, I didn’t understand why Fiordiligi and Dorabella would be wearing shoes in either a bed or a bathtub.

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  • Adlers to sing Love/Hate at ODC Theater

    Adlers 4It seems to be the season for contemporary opera in San Francisco, as Erling Wold's Certitude and Joy and David Lang's The Little Match Girl Passion had both opened last week. San Francisco Opera Center and ODC Theater are also presenting a world premiere of Love/Hate. This chamber opera, by composer Jack Perla and librettist Rob Bailis, will be performed three times between April 12 and 15. The performances will feature soprano Marina Harris, mezzo-soprano Laura Krumm (pictured left, photograph by Laura Kudritzky), tenor Thomas Glenn, and baritone Ao Li.

    Production Site | San Francisco Opera Center

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  • Bayerische Staatsoper’s 2012-2013 Season

    September 23 2012- June 29 2013: Tannhäuser
    September 30- October 30 2012: Fidelio
    October 7 2012- July 24 2013: Tosca
    October 27 2012- July 21 2013: Babylon
    October 28- November 4 2012: Dialogues des Carmélites
    November 5-16 2012: Rusalka
    November 11 2012- July 3 2013: Lohengrin
    November 22- December 1 2012: Turandot
    November 24- December 8 2012: Die Zauberflöte
    December 6 2012- July 20 2013: La bohème
    December 15 2012- July 24 2013: Rigoletto
    December 16-22 2012: Hänsel und Gretel (1965 Production)
    December 23 2012- January 4 2013: Aida
    January 31 2012: Die Fledermaus
    January 5- July 13 2013: Das Rheingold
    January 6- July 14 2013: Die Walküre
    January 9- July 15 2013: Siegfried
    January 10-20 2013: Lucrezia Borgia
    January 13- July 18 2013: Götterdämmerung
    January 14-19 2013: Madama Butterfly
    January 29- February 6 2013: Carmen
    February 9-16 2013: Il barbiere di Siviglia
    February 13- July 30 2013: Boris Godunow
    February 18-24 2013: I Capuleti e i Montecchi
    March 3- July 11 2013: Tristan und Isolde
    March 6-16 2013: Jenufa
    March 17- July 10 2013: Ariadne auf Naxos
    March 24- April 4 2013: Hänsel und Gretel (New Production)
    March 28- July 31 2013: Parsifal
    March 31- July 16 2013: Otello
    April 14- June 28 2013: Der fliegende Holländer
    April 30- May 4 2013: L'elisir d'amore
    May 3-12 2013: Don Giovanni
    May 3-9 2013: Elegie für junge Liebende
    May 5- July 29 2013: Macbeth
    May 18- July 23 2013: Les Contes d'Hoffmann
    May 20- July 9 2013: La Traviata
    June 3- July 12 2013: Simon Boccanegra
    June 27- July 8 2013: Il Trovatore
    July 6 2013: Falstaff
    July 23-27 2013: Written on Skin
    July 25-28 2013: Don Carlo

    The 2012-2013 season for Bayerische Staatsoper was announced on March 12, 2012.

    Official Site | 2012-2013 Premieres

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  • James Gaffigan named Principal Guest Conductor of Gürzenich-Orchester Köln

    GaffiganJames Gaffigan has been named Principal Guest Conductor of the Gürzenich Orchestra in Cologne (Gürzenich-Orchester Köln), starting with the 2012-2013 season. Gaffigan is currently the Chief Conductor of the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra and Principal Guest Conductor of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra. He was the Associate Conductor of San Francisco Symphony from 2006 to 2009.

    James Gaffigan's Official Site | Gürzenich-Orchester Köln's Official Site

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  • Dawn Harms conducts Symphony Parnassus

    Timthumb* Notes *
    The amateur musicians of Symphony Parnassus barely all fit on the stage of San Francisco Conservatory of Music’s Concert Hall yesterday afternoon. The performance began with Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man. The playing was not entirely clear but was quite hearty. Before the Der Rosenkavalier Suite and excerpts from that opera, conductor Dawn Harms announced that Frederica von Stade would not being singing, due to a medical emergency in the family. Soprano Melody Moore (Marschallin) had gamely offered to sing von Stade’s part in “Ist ein Traum / Spür’ nur dich” with Nadine Sierra (Sophie). Both have lovely voices, and Moore did pretty well with Octavian. Concertmaster Robin Mayforth and the rest of the orchestra sounded robust and flowed nicely.

    There was much to sort out before Clarice Assad’s “SCATTERED,” a concerto for scat singing, piano, and orchestra. A piano had to be brought on stage, as did an extensive drum set. The microphone set up for Assad was not operational, so another was used. Unfortunately this new one did not fit in the given stand, and someone had to simply hold it for Assad, since her hands were not free for most of the first movement. The piece did have a lot of appeal, Assad’s playing and singing were strong, as was Keita Ogawa’s percussion. The orchestra played with spirit.

    The second half of the program consisted of Howard Hanson’s Symphony No. 2 (1930), known as quite appropriately as “Romantic.” The playing was very pretty. Harms accidently threw her baton in between the violas and celli at one point in the second movement, but recovered quickly. Despite not going as expected, the performance was endearing.

    * Tattling *
    The audience was occasionally restless, and there was light talking at certain moments.

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  • The Little Match Girl Passion at SF Lyric Opera

    Little-match-girl-passion-sf-lyric-opera* Notes *
    San Francisco Lyric Opera returned after a hiatus of more than two years with a performance of David Lang's The Little Match Girl Passion at ODC Theater last night. The new incarnation of this ensemble is sleek and fresh. Lang's piece is scored for four voices and half a dozen percussive instruments, but it is the singers that are meant to play the drums or bells. A conductor is necessary in this case, and Barnaby Palmer kept the music mostly together. The singers were lightly amplified and sounded ethereal. They did well with the simple percussion, but it did not seem like second nature to them to be playing and singing.

    It is always a pleasure to hear Eugene Brancoveanu, though his part was not extensive in this piece. Tenor Eric Maggay Tuan's voice was pretty and clear. Celeste Winant (alto) had the most prominent vocal role, and sang with beauty. Soprano Ann Moss sang gracefully and blended nicely with Winant.

    The production, designed by Frédéric Boulay (of Ensemble Parallèle) and directed by E.E. "Chip" Grant IV (of Urban Opera), is unflinching and effective. It was striking how unlike this was from SF Lyric Opera's cute, slightly musty fare in years past. The black and white video projections interspersed with purple lighting were tasteful. Anastazia Louise's choreography was eerie, enhanced by her white painted face and limbs, and her white, ragged costume. Her complete commitment to every movement was evident.

    * Tattling *
    The audience was quiet, only a few whispers were heard near the beginning of the piece. Despite being threatened to be "hunted down like a bird dog" if one's cellular phone rang, one electronic tone was heard as the singers sang "God have mercy."

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