The Opera Tattler
Reviews of Performances and their Audiences
Category: David Gockley
-
David Gockley confirmed that Peter Grimes, which was to be part of the 2009-2010 season at San Francisco Opera, is likely to be one of the casualties of the economic downturn, just as La Cieca reported yesterday. Gockley also promised to add "no sniffling" to the list of admonitions printed in the program. In related…
-
David Gockley started off his talk by highlighting the various opera news stories of the week. Baltimore Opera and New York City Opera both have lost their heads, Opera Pacific has closed, and Washington National Opera is postponing their Ring. This last item is of especial importance to San Francisco Opera, as it is a…
-
Before the talk began there was chatter about how a falling football damaged the principal bassoonist's bassoon during the evening's performance. Again, the economy was spoken of, and ticket sales have gone down starting with Idomeneo, though La Bohème is doing well, naturally. Nicola Luisotti is taking the helm as music director soon, and the plan is…
-
Much was said about the faltering economy. Porgy and Bess has been cast, though not all the contracts have been signed. Eric Owens will be Porgy and Laquita Mitchell sings Bess. The cinemacasts continue next Spring, with The Magic Flute, Lucia, Elixir, and La Bohème. As for next season, there will be a Richard Strauss…
-
* Notes * San Francisco Opera's bluegrass band The Opera Dukes played at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass yesterday. The singers included former and current Adler Fellows Matthew O'Neill, Jeremy Galyon, Heidi Melton, Daniela Mack, along with General Director David Gockley. They were accompanied by bandleader O'Neill himself on guitar, Craig Reiss (violin), Jonathan Lancelle (bass),…
-
If one had a burning desire to hear San Francisco Opera's General Director David Gockley sing, one might head over to the Porch Stage of the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass concert tomorrow at 3:20pm. As an added bonus, all the hipsters will be over at the Rooster Stage hearing Iron & Wine, and thus can easily…
-
San Francisco Opera's 2008-09 Season Preview CD set came in the mail recently, and today I noticed that their podcast has also been updated. This the third season of David Gockley's tenure, and likewise the third time San Francisco Opera has sent out such CDs, in lieu of the yearbook of previous years. The cover of the CD…
-
Yesterday’s performance of Ariodante concluded the 2007-2008 season at San Francisco Opera. The Summer part of the season was mixed bag this year. Das Rheingold had some interesting ideas as far as production is concerned, but some of the execution was weak. Much of the cast was strong, but I found certain female principals disappointing. Ariodante had…
-
* Notes * The Merola Opera Program's Auditions for the General Director were yesterday evening, and this was a first opportunity to hear all the 2008 Merolini in a single go. Before the auditions began I found my opera mentors, the Ryans, and B. Ryan told us we should put ourselves in David Gockley's shoes and…
-
* Notes * Francesca Zambello's American-inspired Das Rheingold opened last night at San Francisco Opera. The video projections, the work of Jan Hartley, varied from completely campy to tastefully elegant. The first projections did have me in stitches though, and not in a good way. They looked like the opening credits to the Star Wars…
The Opera Tattler 