The Opera Tattler
Reviews of Performances and their Audiences
Category: Opera Review
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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 * A run of Gilbert and Sullivan's The Sorcerer (ovation pictured, photograph by the author) from Lamplighters Music Theatre opened last night at the Presidio Theatre Performing Arts Center in San Francisco. Delightfully silly, the cast featured many talented singing actors. The piece involves Alexis, a son of a baronet, who wants to level…
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* Notes * The Bay Area premiere of Héctor Armienta's Zorro (Eugene Brancoveanu and Xavier Prado pictured, photograph by David Allen) opened last night at Opera San José in a crowd pleasing production with beautiful playing and singing. The orchestra sounded splendid under Maestro Jorge Parodi. The opera is earnest and heartfelt, the music quite pleasant…
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* Notes * William Kentridge’s The Great Yes, The Great No (pictured, photograph by Monika Rittershaus) had a Bay Area premiere at Cal Performances last weekend. The choral music was composed by Nhlanhla Mahlangu and also performed by her and six other singers. The music director was Tlale Makhene who played percussion in the small ensemble…
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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 * Livermore Valley Opera's Don Giovanni (Ovation pictured, photograph by author) opened last night at the Bankhead Theater. The opera is cast well and the production is very committed. Robert Herriot's staging used video projections that featured monstrous roses in every scene. They seemed to have blood vessels and looked almost three-dimensional. The…
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* Notes * La Bohème (Kearstin Piper Brown and WooYoung Yoon pictured in Act IV, photograph by David Allen) closed at Opera San José last weekend with a youthful cast and beautiful singing. The traditional production doesn’t make for the smoothest transitions but looks very nice. The scenic design, from Kim A. Tolman, completely looks like…
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* Notes * Ars Minerva gave the modern premiere of Antonio Sartorio and Marc'Antonio Ziani's 1681 La Flora last weekend at ODC Theater in San Francisco. The Sunday matinée was delightful, the music kept moving, the playing bracing but buoyant, and the singing absolutely beautiful. The libretto, written by Novello Bonis, deals with historical figures from…
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* Notes * A revival of Carmen opened last night at San Francisco Opera with some very fine singing and lively, brisk playing. Francesca Zambello's 2006 production is both pretty and functional, there is never a pause in the music to set up the stage. Conductor Benjamin Manis had the orchestra at a quick pace. The…
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* Notes *San Francisco Opera presented a 2012 production of Tristan und Isolde (Act II pictured, photograph by Cory Weaver) from La Fenice for the second time last night. The orchestra sounded utterly clear and beautiful under Maestra Eun Sun Kim. Kim has the orchestra sounding transparent, every line is palpable. You can feel the…
The Opera Tattler 