The Opera Tattler
Reviews of Performances and their Audiences
Category: Nicole Paiement
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* Notes *A revised and reorchestrated version of Stewart Wallace's Harvey Milk (pictured, photograph by Cory Weaver) was presented by Opera Parallèle at YBCA Theater in San Francisco Saturday night. Conducted by Nicole Paiement, the high-volume work sounded crystalline and Brian Staufenbiel's production uses the space efficiently. The narrative follows the life of Harvey Milk,…
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* Notes *Opera Parallèle gave a moving world premiere of David Hanlon’s The Pigeon Keeper (pictured, photograph by Stefan Cohen) at Cowell Theater in San Francisco last night. The piece was prepared meticulously and is engaging on many levels. The drama is set on an unnamed Mediterranean island beset by drought and refugees that wash…
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* Notes * Merola Opera Program's very first commission, If I Were You, premiered last night at Herbst Theatre. Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer's opera certainly shows off the young singers voices but most impressive was Maestra Nicole Paiement at the helm of the orchestra. The focus of Merola's performances is, of course, very much on…
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Tons of new operas are being performed everyday, the most successful perhaps are Jake Heggie’s Moby-Dick (recently at Opera San José) and Mason Bates’ Grammy-winning The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs. Closer to home, Howards End, America by Allen Shearer had a world premiere only last month in San Francisco. Opera Parallèle, devoted to contemporary works…
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* Notes * Opera Parallèle revived last year's production of The Little Prince this weekend at the Marines' Memorial Theatre. The opera is perfectly charming and the feminist twist of having mostly female principals worked well. I had a better appreciation for Nicholas Wright's libretto this time around — it is concise — condensing some 90…
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* Notes *Opera Parallèle is holding the first North American performances of Tarik O’Regan’s Heart of Darkness at Z Space in San Francisco this weekend. The challenge of taking a well-known text must be great. Tom Philips condensed Conrad’s novella into a spare libretto. The ninety minute work is relentless, there is no intermission, but…
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* Notes *Opera Parallèle opened the 2015 season with a chamber version of Dead Man Walking at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco last night. Opera Parallèle again makes a compelling case for contemporary works, and the appeal of Jake Heggie’s first opera is obvious. Artistic Director Nicole Paiement conducted a lush…
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Opera Parallèle presents the world premiere of My Head is Full of Colors, a children's opera composed by Chris Pratorius with libretto by Nicole Paiement. The free performance will be held during National Opera Week, on Saturday, November 1, at 11 am in the Koret Auditorium of the San Francisco Main Library, 100 Larkin Street.…
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* Notes *This weekend, Opera Parallèle is performing Leonard Bernstein’s Trouble in Tahiti (Lisa Chavez and Eugene Brancoveanu pictured right; photograph by Steve DiBartolomeo) at Z Space in San Francisco. The performances open with Samuel Barber’s ten-minute Hand of Bridge and simply flow into the Bernstein. Director Brian Staufenbiel‘s production makes the most of limited…
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* Notes * A sneak preview of Opera Parallèle's next production, Ainadamar, was held at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music last month. Conductor Nicole Paiement took us through several musical examples with pianist Keisuke Nakogoshi and half a dozen singers. Lisa Chavez (pictured left as Federico García Lorca, photograph by Steve Di Bartolomeo), Marnie…
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