The Opera Tattler

Reviews of Performances and their Audiences

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Category: Brian Thorsett

  • Brian Thorsett Interview

    Tenor Brian Thorsett (pictured left), well known to Bay Area opera fans, got a tenure track assistant professor position at Virginia Tech last year and subsequently moved to across the country. He is, however, still performing in here quite a bit, and will sing in the next Curious Flights concert on May 28 at the…

  • PBO and SF Opera Adlers

    * Notes * A number of San Francisco Opera Center's Adler Fellows (pictured left) performed with conductor Nicholas McGegan and Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra last night at the SFJazz Center. The evening was a delight from beginning to end. The first half of the program featured four instrumental pieces interspersed with four vocal pieces, all by Mozart.…

  • MMDG’s Dido and Aeneas

     * Notes * The Mark Morris Dance Group (pictured left, photograph by Beatriz Schiller) opened the new season at Cal Performances with Dido and Aeneas yesterday evening. The audience seemed completely rapt by the experience, and I have never attended a Baroque opera with so little fidgeting or noise. Morris fills all the music with choreography,…

  • Chora Nova performs Vivaldi, Galuppi, Pergolese

    * Notes * Berkeley's Chora Nova ended the 2010-2011 season with a performance of psalm settings from the Italian Baroque last Saturday. The evening began with Pergolese's Confitebor tibi and Galuppi's Nisi Dominus. The both pieces were played and sung at a pretty mezzo-forte under the direction of Paul Flight (pictured left). The two sopranos…

  • PBO’s Dido and Aeneas in Berkeley

    * Notes * Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra continued a run of Purcell's Dido and Aeneas in Berkeley last night, along with a full program of other works of this composer. The performance set up was different this time, with the orchestra on stage behind the singers. The acoustics are better in this venue, First Congregational Church, than…

  • Confess the Flame her Tongue Denyes

    * Notes * Yesterday in San Francisco, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra performed the first of six performances celebrating Henry Purcell. The evening started with his "O Sing Unto the Lord a New Song," Chacony in G minor, "Hear My Prayer, O Lord," and the Suite from Abdelazer, or The Moor's Revenge. Conducted by Music Director Nicholas McGegan,…

  • Festival Opera’s Faust

     * Notes * Festival Opera‘s production of Faust opened last Saturday at the Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek. The orchestra, under Michael Morgan, sounded jaunty all evening long, though there were some issues with the horns. The chorus did not fare quite as well, at times they lacked confidence, particularly the men’s chorus in…

  • Pocket Opera’s Martha

    * Notes * Pocket Opera's 30th season opened yesterday with Friedrich von Flotow's Martha. This company presents opera in English translation with a narrator, a small cast, and a refreshing unpretentiousness. Donald Pippin, the founder and artistic director of Pocket Opera, does all the translations, narrations, and plays piano accompaniment. For Martha, he lead the…