The Opera Tattler

Reviews of Performances and their Audiences

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Category: Opera Review

  • Oakland East Bay Symphony’s Candide

    * Notes * My review of Oakland East Bay Symphony's Candide is on San Francisco Classical Voice. * Tattling * There was a ton of talking but most of it was in response to the performance, so at least it was nice that the audience members were engaged. The woman in front of me in…

  • Opera Parallèle’s Heart of Darkness

    * 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…

  • John Eliot Gardiner Conducts L’Orfeo

    * Notes * John Eliot Gardiner, the English Baroque Soloists, and the Monteverdi Choir (pictured left, photograph by Paul Burns) performed a beautiful L’Orfeo, Favola in musica at San Francisco Symphony‘s Davies Hall last night. The playing was elegant, even the brass instruments sounded clean. The singing was even and lovely. The vigorous choristers sounded together.…

  • Opera San José’s Die Zauberflöte

    * Notes * My review of Opera San José's The Magic Flute is on San Francisco Classical Voice. * Tattling * There was little talking or electronic noise. A woman on the left aisle in about the fourth of fifth row tapped her feet incessantly during Act II, especially during the Queen of the Night's…

  • PBO and SF Opera Adlers

    * Notes * A number of San Francisco Opera Center's Adler Fellows (pictured left) performed with conductor Nicholas McGegan and Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra last night at the SFJazz Center. The evening was a delight from beginning to end. The first half of the program featured four instrumental pieces interspersed with four vocal pieces, all by Mozart.…

  • SFCM’s L’elisir d’amore

    * Notes * Last week the San Francisco Conservatory Opera Program held two performances of L'elisir d'amore. The charming production marked the debut of director Jose Maria Condemi, who is incoming Director of Opera at the school. The spacious set (pictured left) features a runway downstage of the orchestra pit, and different levels upstage. The…

  • Opera Parallèle’s Dead Man Walking

    * 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…

  • Der fliegende Holländer at Hawai’i Opera Theatre

    * Notes *Der fliegende Holländer opened at Hawai’i Opera Theatre last night. Francesca Zambello’s production, directed here by Sara Widzer, involves a lot of ropes. The set is simple and remains essentially the same the entire time, despite the intermission placed in the middle of Act II. Scenes are changed using light and a few…

  • SF Opera’s La Cenerentola

    * Notes * An adorable final performance of Rossini’s La Cenerentola (Act I, Scene 1 pictured left; photograph by Cory Weaver) this season at San Francisco Opera was held last night. The cast was brimming with youthful energy. The male chorus sounded solid and executed the choreography with endearing aplomb. Zanda Švēde (Tisbe) and Maria Valdes…

  • SF Opera’s La Bohème (Crocetto, Berrugi)

    * Notes * A second cast appeared in San Francisco Opera's La Bohème (Ellie Dehn as Musetta, Brian Mulligan as Marcello, Giorgio Berrugi as Rodolfo, and Leah Crocetto as Mimì in Act III pictured left; photograph by Cory Weaver) on Saturday night. Again, Maestro Giuseppe Finzi conducted an orchestra that sounded grand and vivid, but…