The Opera Tattler
Reviews of Performances and their Audiences
Category: Opera Review
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* Notes * The West Edge Opera opened the third and last opera of its 2015 Festival with Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria last night. Monteverdi's opera was held at American Steel Studios in Oakland, a former pipe factory turned studio space. The industrial atelier seems at odds with the Baroque opera but the result was…
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* Notes *My review of West Edge Opera's Lulu and As One is on KQED Arts. The singing was all very strong, especially the leads. I don't focus on the voices in the review, but feel I should mention here that Brenda Patterson (Hannah After in As One) has unreal abilities, she did not seem…
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* Notes * The Merola Opera Program recently returned to Cowell Theater with a double-bill of The Medium and Gianni Schicchi. Directed by Peter Kazaras and conducted by Mark Morash, the Saturday afternoon performance was engaging and energetic. The Medium is a stark, tense work, and Donald Eastman's simple scenery was enhanced by the Kazaras' straightforward…
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* Notes *My review of Festival Opera's Ariadne auf Naxos is on San Francisco Classical Voice. * Tattling * It did not seem appropriate to mention this in a review, but at this performance I realized that Richard Strauss' music really does make me feel a little queasy. I also got an inkling of why…
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* Notes *Michael Tilson Thomas and San Francisco Symphony are concluding a three-week Beethoven Festival with a semi-staged Fidelio. The opening performance last night featured grand singing and an austere, but effective staging. The opera boasts a stunning cast. Nina Stemme is a searing Leonore, her sound is luminous and clear. She pierces to the…
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* Notes * My review of San Francisco Opera's Le Nozze di Figaro is on San Francisco Classical Voice. * Tattling * Since this performance was in the afternoon, there were even more watch alarms at each hour than usual. An excited older couple sat next to me in Row T Seats 5 and 7.…
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* Notes * San Francisco Opera gave the world premiere of Two Women (La Ciociara) last night. The narrative is compelling. Marco Tutino's sweeping music has a cinematic feel and is pretty. The orchestra sounded engaged under the direction of Maestro Nicola Luisotti. The percussion was particularly gripping. All of the singing was strong. The chorus…
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* Notes * Yesterday mezzo-soprano Michaela Martens (pictured left in Act II, photograph by Cory Weaver) sang Cassandra in San Francisco Opera's Les Troyens. She sings again on June 20, 2015. Martens has a lovely resonant voice with powerful low notes and searing high ones. Compared to soprano Anna Caterina Antonacci, with whom she shares the…
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* Notes * A new production of Les Troyens (Act IV pictured left, photograph by Cory Weaver) opened this afternoon at San Francisco Opera. The orchestra sounded absolutely gorgeous under the direction of Maestro Donald Runnicles. The playing was fluent and cohesive. The strings sounded lovely and the woodwinds were wonderful. The cast is magnificent. Soprano…
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* Notes *Charles Dutoit (pictured left) conducted San Francisco Symphony in its first performance of Ravel's L'Heure espagnole last night. The orchestra sounded elegant and the cast had a wonderful sense of comic timing in this concert version of the piece. Mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard (Concepcion) has a vivid, smoky voice. She was able to convey…
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