The Opera Tattler
Reviews of Performances and their Audiences
Category: Opera Review
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* Notes *My review of Opera San José's Le nozze di Figaro is up on San Francisco Classical Voice. * Tattling * The audience seemed genuinely amused by all the antics on stage. This run should do well, even if I myself did not particularly enjoy the performance.
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* Notes * A spectacular new production of Lulu (pictured left, photograph by Ken Howard) opened at the Metropolitan Opera last night. Director William Kentridge's staging is vibrant, and the singing and playing was strong. There were times when the production was perhaps busy, there was a lot of enormous video art projected across the stage…
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* Notes * Lucia di Lammermoor closed last Wednesday at San Francisco Opera with Albina Shagimuratova as the title character, substituting for Nadine Sierra, who was ill. Shagimuratova herself has been sick and had not yet performed her role as the Queen of the Night in the current run of The Magic Flute that ends November…
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* Notes * A revival of The Magic Flute opened at San Francisco Opera last night. The production has been beset with casting changes since August, and two more were announced from the War Memorial stage by General Director David Gockley before the performance. Adler Julie Adams sang First Lady for Jacqueline Piccolino and Kathryn Bowden…
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* Notes * A new production of Lucia di Lammermoor opened last night at San Francisco Opera with local favorite and Adler alum Nadine Sierra in the title role. There was much beautiful singing and playing, but while there were many strong elements in the staging, it didn't add up to a cohesive performance. Sierra cut…
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* Tattling *My review of Opera San José's Tosca is up on San Francisco Classical Voice. * Tattling * Someone's cell phone on the orchestra level would not stop ringing at the start of the opera.
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* Notes *My review of San Francisco Opera‘s Sweeney Todd is up on KQED Arts. Perhaps I’m not high-brow enough for Sondheim’s work, normally at the opera I am swept off by the music — the drama, though important, tends to be secondary and the words are rarely a concern. I found myself exhausted by focusing…
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* Notes * The 93rd season of San Francisco Opera opened Friday with Luisa Miller, a Verdi rarity only seen on the War Memorial stage a dozen times before. The opera has a quintessentially Verdian plot: a protective father, an innocent daughter, a secret identity, and a love triangle that ends in a protracted death scene.…
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* Notes * American Bach Soloists gave the North American premiere of Marais' Sémélé last night in San Francisco. The music is exquisite and Jeffrey Thomas conducted a precise performance. The chorus was strong and the soloists were evenly matched. Ever consistent, Maestro Thomas led a clean sounding orchestra. Even the trumpet was more or…
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* Notes * Don Pasquale was performed by the Merola Opera Program at Cowell Theater recently. Warren Jones conducted a swift and lively performance on Saturday afternoon. The production from Nic Muni was entertaining but not entirely coherent. Muni's direction involved the action taking place on a film set, complete with tempestuous starlet and mollifying director…
The Opera Tattler 