The Opera Tattler

Reviews of Performances and their Audiences

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Category: Opera Review

  • PBO’s Aci, Galatea e Polifemo (Again)

    * Notes * The production of Aci, Galatea e Polifemo that has a final performance tonight at ODC Theater in San Francisco is well worth a second viewing. National Sawdust and Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra have successfully pulled off a disquieting and dark vision of Händel’s serenata. This time around I was in the eighth row rather…

  • PBO’s Aci, Galatea e Polifemo

    * Notes * Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and Maestro Nicholas McGegan (pictured, photograph by Suzanne Karp) opened a run of Händel's Aci, Galatea e Polifemo last night at the ODC Theater in San Francisco. The fully-staged co-production with the Brooklyn-based National Sawdust is absolutely menacing but beautifully acted, sung, and played. The short piece is not a…

  • Wozzeck at the Met

    * Notes * William Kentridge's latest production of Wozzeck (pictured, photograph by Ken Howard) at The Met perfectly captures the nightmarish quality of Berg's piece. The opening yesterday evening was one of immersive theater and absolutely beautiful playing from the orchestra. The set is dark, filled with projected drawings, animations, and video footage of human…

  • The Magic Flute at the Met

    * Notes * The Met's holiday presentation of The Magic Flute (David Portillo as Tamino, photograph by Karen Almond ) is completely charming. The abridged version in English is less than two hours long, and perfect for children. I saw the full version of this production in German more than twelve years ago, and vividly…

  • Ars Minerva’s Ermelinda

    * Notes * Before leaving for Ars Minerva's Ermelinda last night, my 5-year-old asked what the opera was about, and seeing that I was at a loss, he cheerfully let me off the hook, saying I could tell him today after I had seen it. Even after the delightful performance, the convoluted narrative is rather difficult…

  • SF Opera’s Hansel and Gretel (Again)

    * Notes * San Francisco Opera's second performance of Hansel and Gretel (Sasha Cooke and Heidi Stober in Act II pictured, photograph by Cory Weaver) yesterday afternoon was a fine introduction to opera for young audiences. The title characters are winsome and powerful singers. Adler Fellow soprano Mary Evelyn Hangley replaced mezzo-soprano Michaela Martens as…

  • SF Opera’s Hansel and Gretel

    * Notes * An amusingly spooky production of Hansel and Gretel (Act III pictured, photograph by Cory Weaver) opened at San Francisco Opera last night. The cast features many lucid, high voices and the orchestra sounded great. This creepy set is inspired by Alfred Hitchcock, and this works surprisingly well — the darkness of the…

  • SF Opera’s Manon Lescaut

    * Notes * A very loud revival of Manon Lescaut opened at San Francisco Opera last night. All the singing was strong, and the orchestra sounded exuberant under the baton of former San Francisco Music Director Nicola Luisotti. My main memory of this production way back in 2006 is of Karita Mattila in the title…

  • SF Opera’s Le Nozze di Figaro

    * Notes * Le Nozze di Figaro opened at San Francisco Opera yesterday in a fresh new production, the first in decades. The performance marks the start of revamps for all three Mozart/Da Ponte operas from director Michael Cavanagh and set designer Erhard Rom, each set in the same American estate over the course of…

  • SF Opera’s Billy Budd

    * Notes * A new to San Francisco Opera production of Billy Budd opened last night. The performance was dramatically satisfying and had absolutely solid cast. The Michael Grandage's production comes to us from Glyndebourne and is directed here by Ian Rutherford. The set (pictured left, photograph by Cory Weaver), from Christopher Oram, is tiered…