The Opera Tattler

Reviews of Performances and their Audiences

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Category: Carmen

  • LA Opera’s 2008-2009 Season

    September 6-26 2008: Il TritticoSeptember 7-26 2008: The FlyOctober 2-18 2008: Madama ButterflyNovember 15- December 14 2008: CarmenJanuary 10-25 2009: Die ZauberflöteFebruary 21- March 15 2009: Das RheingoldApril 4-25 2009: Die WalküreApril 11-26 2009: Die VögelMay 21- June 21 2009: La Traviata Two U.S. premieres and the company's first Der Ring des Nibelungen. Quite a…

  • Carmen at ROH

    * Notes * A new co-production with the Norwegian Opera of Carmen opened at the Royal Opera House opened last month and runs until February 3, 2007. All the performances are sold out, but 67 tickets are held to be sold the day of the performance as day seats. Last Thursday I tried this, getting…

  • Closing of Carmen

    *Notes* The final performance of Carmen this season was on the 9th. The standing room area was fuller than it has been in a long time, not unlike the opening night of a season. The performance was adequate, though Hadar Halévy still gasped a few times and danced badly. However, Marco Berti was most impressive,…

  • Carmen Sold Out

    The last three performances of Carmen are sold out, but the last two performances of Manon Lescaut are not.

  • Carmen, ou la Carmencita

    * Notes * The fourth performance of Carmen this season was yesterday, and I had the chance of seeing the performance from Box A. From there I could discern that Hadar Halévy was gasping, rather than wobbling, at least, most of the time. She has a wholesome, sunny smile. Marco Berti was rather loud, but…

  • Carmen Reviews

    These seem opposed, which is always amusing. Contra Costa Times Review | San Francisco Chronicle Review

  • L’amour est un oiseau rebelle

    * Notes * Mezzo-soprano Kate Aldrich is singing Carmen in the alternate cast at San Francisco Opera, replacing Hadar Halévy, who in turn is replacing Marina Domashenko in the regular cast. Aldrich debuted at San Francisco Opera last Saturday, her voice was strong at first, and she sang the Habanera beautifully. She also managed to…

  • Opening of Carmen

    * Notes * Yet another revival of Jean-Pierre Ponnelle’s production of Carmen opened yesterday. This particular production seems to be a staple at San Francisco Opera, it comes around again every few years, the last time was in 2002, and the time before that was in 1997. This production is fairly traditional and, in truth,…

  • Carmen News

    Hadar Halévy will be singing the title role of Carmen tonight in her debut at San Francisco Opera because Marina Domashenko is ill. Press Release [PDF]

  • Carmen

    Last night I attended San Francisco Opera’s production of Bizet’s Carmen with a certain friend. We agreed that the program’s cover, which has been used on every program all season, is hideous. The work featured is Diebenkorn’s Blue Surround (1982), that involves color aquatint, spit bite aquatint, etching offset, and drypoint with scraping. The dimensions…