The Opera Tattler
Reviews of Performances and their Audiences
Category: Christine Brewer
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* Notes * This week San Francisco Symphony and Chorus have been performing Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis. Maestro Michael Tilson Thomas kept the musicians synchronized. The orchestra was often rather loud, but the playing was clean. Concertmaster Alexander Barantschik’s the violin solo in the Sanctus was beautiful. The brass was warm and pretty. The chorus was impressive,…
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July 2- August 26 2010: Madame ButterflyJuly 3- August 27 2010: The Magic FluteJuly 17- August 28 2010: The Tales of HoffmannJuly 24- August 19 2010: Life is a DreamJuly 31- August 25 2010: Albert Herring The 2010 season at Santa Fe Opera opens with Madame Butterfly with Kelly Kaduce singing the title role. Charles…
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* Notes * The Wagner Society of Northern California held a symposium on Tristan und Isolde last Saturday, October 21, 2006. There were seven speakers whose topics ranged from the day-to-day administration of Tristan at San Francisco Opera to a Jungian analysis of Wagner. The turn out was good, about a hundred people. The highlight…
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* Notes *The fourth performance of Tristan und Isolde was last night, and it was consistent with the previous performance I saw last week. Thomas Moser (Tristan) started off pretty well in Act I, and he sang beautifully in Act II, but by Act III he was rather quiet. * Tattling * The audience was…
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* Notes * Los Angeles Opera’s 1987 production of Tristan und Isolde was revived last week in San Francisco. The production was designed by David Hockney, best known for his swimming pool paintings from the sixties. The set looked much like a large-scale colorful pop-up book, filled with strange details, such as curtains attached to…
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San Francisco Opera’s revival of Fidelio opened last night. The production is directed by Michael Hampe and designed by John Gunter. The set is clever, with floors that lift up, and walls that can be moved aside. This facilitates scene changes, which went seamlessly throughout. The contrast of the openness in the final scene and…
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