Today it was announced that Jean Kellogg will be the Merola Opera Program's first executive director, effective October 1, 2011.
The Opera Tattler
Reviews of Performances and their Audiences
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* Notes *
Last night's Schwabacher Summer Concert included much strong singing. Scott Quinn sounded sweet as Don Carlo, while Guodong Feng (Rodrigo) blended in a bit more with the orchestra. Deborah Nansteel's Eboli was incredible, her voice is lovely. Elizabeth Zharoff (Giuletta) and Laura Krumm (Romeo) made for an interesting contrast in their Act I excerpt from I Capuleti e i Montecchi, as it is Zharoff that has a darkness in her tone, and Krumm who sounds rather bright, with a controlled vibrato. Cooper Nolan (Edgardo) and Joo Won Kang (Enrico) both sang their Act III, part 1 snippet from Lucia di Lammermoor with a great deal of power.The excerpt from Act II of Rigoletto was compelling, not least because of Joo Won Kang in the title role. He was able to convey the pathos and humanity of this character. Xi Wang (Gilda) has a pretty voice, she is fluttery at the top and steely in her lower range. After all this Italian opera, the bit of Act III from Eugene Onegin did seem out of place, but Suchan Kim (Eugene Onegin) and Marina Boudart Harris (Tatiana) sang robustly.
The orchestra must have not had much rehearsal time, as the focus here is, of course, on the young singers. The playing in I Capuleti e i Montecchi came off a little awkwardly, and the woodwinds seemed to have trouble in Rigoletto. Maestro Robert Wood conducted with enthusiasm and the overture from L'italiana in Algeri was lively.
The staging, directed by Peter Kazaras, was simple, consisting of no more than 6 black boxes arranged in different formations for each scene. The rearrangement of the boxes between each segment was occasionally distracting, but did define the space just enough to be dramatically effective.
* Tattling *
There was some speaking from audience members when no one was singing. At least one person was using a flashlight to read his program during the performance, perhaps because there were no supertitles.Leave a Reply
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Dallas Opera has cancelled a production of Katya Kabanová scheduled for October 28 – November 13 2011. Patricia Racette was to sing the title role.
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San Francisco Opera's latest production of Der Ring des Nibelungen (Das Rheingold Scene 3 pictured left, photograph by Cory Weaver) sold to 99.96% of ticket capacity, selling 44,055 tickets across 14 performances and generating $7,236,673 in box office income.Leave a Reply
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* Notes *
Festival Opera's 2011 season opened with La Traviata last night in Walnut Creek. Conducted by Maestro Michael Morgan, the orchestra sounded enthusiastic and full, but there were some glaring intonation problems. The chorus was likewise sounded eager, though not perfectly together.The cast boasted many familiar faces, and the singing and acting was fine all around. Nicolai Janitzky's Germont was fatherly, his sound has volume and a certain buzziness. Andrew Whitfield sounded downright scared in his vocal entrance as Alfredo, which was odd as his voice is quite pretty and warm. He did have difficulties with the high notes, and occasionally his voice would nearly disappear. In contrast, Rebecca Davis (Violetta) sang with much more ease. Her voice is flexible and well-supported. Some of the notes in her lower range are not perfectly clear, but Davis did sing beautifully, and with fragile delicacy in the last act.
The production, directed by Mark Foehringer, was entirely reasonable. The set suggests richness without being clunky or monolithic. The costumes were exactly as one would expect, reminding one of attire seen in Ingres portraits.
* Tattling *
A fire alarm sounded before the performance, and everyone in the building filed out onto the sidewalk outside. No one appeared hurt, and we were allowed inside again before the 8pm curtain time.There was much talking in the audience, which was otherwise very supportive and excited to be there.
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* Program *
"Una furtiva lagrima" from L'elisir d'amore
Daniel Curran, tenor and Ana María Otamendi, piano"Look, through the port" from Billy Budd
Mark Diamond, baritone and Clinton Smith, piano"Nacqui all'affanno…Non più mesta" from Cenerentola
Laura Krumm, mezzo-soprano and Robert Mollicone, piano"Rivolgete a lui lo squardo" from Così fan tutte
Suchan Kim, baritone and Timothy Cheung, piano"Air du tambour major" from Le Caïd
Adam Lau, bass and Clinton Smith, piano* Notes *
Martin Katz gave a master class for the Merola Opera Program on Thursday at Herbst Theatre. Katz is a collaborative pianist, so there was some focus on the accompanists. He had Ana María Otamendi take "Una furtiva lagrima" faster, slowed down Robert Mollicone in the Rossini, and asked Clinton Smith to not follow his singer's style. Again, the singing was all quite nice and pretty. Daniel Curran had some problems with intonation but has an expansive voice. Mark Diamond seemed an ideal Billy Budd, and his words came through clearly. Laura Krumm was told she was too polite and had to show off more. Suchan Kim has a rich, but perhaps unnuanced sound. Kim broke out some impressive dance moves, and even clicked his heels at one point. Katz had Adam Lau sing an Ambrose Thomas aria with more assertiveness and bluster, and with beautiful long lines.* Tattling *
Katz gave a pre-class talk with Sheri Greenawald. We learned that as an accompanist, it is important to identify physically with the singers. When asked which piece he found most challenging to play, Katz responded with Schubert's "Der Erlkönig."Leave a Reply
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Single tickets for San Francisco Opera’s 2011-2012 season go on sale Sunday, July 10. Some cast changes have also been announced. Michael Fabiano will replace Francesco Meli as Gennaro in Lucrezia Borgia (Renée Fleming pictured left as Lucrezia Borgia, photo by Karin Cooper/Washington National Opera). Lucrezia Garcia and Fabio Sartori replace Oksana Dyka and Ramón Vargas in Attila.Leave a Reply
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Production Web Site | SF Opera's Ring Blog | Cycle 1 Reviews | Cycle 2 ReviewsPictured left is Act I, Scene 3 of San Francisco Opera's Götterdämmerung with Daveda Karanas (Waltraute) and Nina Stemme (Brünnhilde) by Cory Weaver.
Whole Cycle: Echovar | oboeinsight | Wall Street Journal
Civic Center: Götterdämmerung
Not For Fun Only: Rheingold | Walküre | Siegfried | Götterdämmerung
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* Notes *
Der Ring des Nibelungen at San Francisco Opera came to a spectacular conclusion with Götterdämmerung (Prologue pictured left, photo by Cory Weaver) today. The orchestra played beautifully for Maestro Donald Runnicles. There were only two or three sour moments, and even these were fleeting and did not detract from the overall brilliance of the performance. The horn and harp were striking. The music of Siegfried’s funeral march was incredibly moving, as was the very end of the opera. The chorus sounded strong and the greeting of Gunther and Brünnhilde was gorgeous.The principal singers gave performances consistent with their previous ones, only with greater focus and intensity. Stacey Tappan, Lauren McNeese, and Renée Tatum may have looked like they had seen better days as the Rhinemaidens, but they sounded great. They held it together for the wild part of the music that starts with “So weise und stark verwähnt sich der Held.” Ronnita Miller, Daveda Karanas, and Heidi Melton were memorable as the Norns, each voice distinctive, but singing together. Daveda Karanas also made the Waltraute/Brünnhilde scene in Act I very human and believable. Andrea Silvestrelli was menancing as Hagen, singing with force and richness. Ian Storey was only overwhelmed a few times as Siegfried, his voice has warmth and was particularly effective in Act III. Nina Stemme was truly a wonder as Brünnhilde, going from strength to strength.
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Every seat was sold, and even standing room was at capacity. I heard there were altercations in the balcony over places at the rail. It was noted that the person seated in the balcony with the service dog was late today, and her dog was allowed to roam freely around the standing area.As for the orchestra level, there was the usual talking, laughing, clapping, and electronic noise. People were all too amused by the remote control used in the first scene of Act II.
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* Notes *
The third Ring cycle at San Francisco Opera continued yesterday with Siegfried (Act II, Scene 3 pictured left, photo by Cory Weaver). The orchestra sounded better than ever under Donald Runnicles. The brass was particularly clean, especially in the Act I Vorspiel and before Brünnhilde makes her vocal entrance in Act III, Scene 3. A clarinet squeaked once in Act II, but overall playing of the clarinet and the rest of the woodwinds was gorgeous, the Woodbird music was very pretty. Again, the fire music at the end of Act III, Scene 2 was wonderful.The singing was strong. Jay Hunter Morris (Siegfried) sounded young and sweet, his voice is more open and has a fuller bloom to it than when he debuted the role more than a month ago. His acting skills are evident, I especially liked watching him mimic the movements of Mime, sung by David Cangelosi. The latter gave a performance with great physicality and a full range of colors in the voice. Cangelosi enunciates well, yet maintains a bright lyricism. Mark Delavan (Wanderer) would occasionally be overwhelmed when we got to brass-heavy parts of the music, though perhaps this was only because my seat was right in front of that section. He did sing beautifully. Nina Stemme is a stunning Brünnhilde. At this point, it is hard to imagine anyone else in this role, as Stemme embodies the character so perfectly.
* Tattling *
The audience had a hard time being quiet during the music that did not include singing, but because the performance was so engaging, the talking was easy enough to ignore. At least no electronic noise was heard, at least, not on the orchestra level where I was seated. The person next to me in Row L Seat 6 took photographs of the projects at the top of Act II until the woman in M 4 hissed at him to stop.Leave a Reply
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