The Opera Tattler

Reviews of Performances and their Audiences

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Category: Opera Review

  • SF Opera’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann

    * Notes * A new production of Les Contes d’Hoffmann (Hye Jung Lee as Olympia and Thomas Glenn as Spalanzani with the San Francisco Opera Chorus in Act II pictured left, photograph by Cory Weaver) opened at San Francisco Opera last night. Maestro Patrick Fournillier lead a lively orchestra. The brass sounded particularly good in the…

  • Opera Parallèle’s Trouble in Tahiti

    * Notes *This weekend, Opera Parallèle is performing Leonard Bernstein’s Trouble in Tahiti (Lisa Chavez and Eugene Brancoveanu pictured right; photograph by Steve DiBartolomeo) at Z Space in San Francisco. The performances open with Samuel Barber’s ten-minute Hand of Bridge and simply flow into the Bernstein. Director Brian Staufenbiel‘s production makes the most of limited…

  • David et Jonathas at BAM

    * Notes * William Christie and Les Arts Florissants are currently performing Charpentier’s David et Jonathas at BAM. The production is from Festival d’Aix-en-Provence and is directed by Andreas Homoki of Opernhaus Zürich. The set consists of wooden walls that can shift and move along two Cartesian axes. The blond wood used for walls and furniture…

  • Giulio Cesare at The Met

    * Notes *David McVicar’s production of Giulio Cesare (Act III pictured left, photograph by Marty Sohl) had a fourth performance at the Metropolitan Opera last night. Having attended no less than six performances of the Met’s previous production, it was nice to see that McVicar’s offering is much less staid. The shifts in costumes must…

  • Opera San José’s Suor Angelica & Gianni Schicchi

    * Notes * A double-bill of Suor Angelica and Gianni Schicchi (pictured left, photograph by P. Kirk) closes the 2012-2013 season at Opera San José. Charlie Smith’s cunning set is used for both operas, but somehow the space seems completely transformed for each. The costumes, from Elizabeth Poindexter, look completely appropriate. Lorna Haywood’s production is…

  • Händel’s Teseo at PBO

    * Notes * Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra is currently performing Händel’s Teseo in the Bay Area. The opera certainly has some very silly moments, and this semi-staged version simply embraced the absurdity. The orchestra is set up around the two harpsichords, with Maestro Nicholas McGegan at one and Hanneke van Proosdij at the other. As a result,…

  • Il Matrimonio Segreto at Teatro Regio di Torino

    * Notes * A run of Cimarosa's Il Matrimonio Segreto is currently being held at Teatro Regio di Torino. Francesco Pasqualetti conducted last night's performance, and the overture went nicely, but there were some raw, blurry moments in the pit. Likewise with the singing, which was often quiet compared with the sound of the orchestra.…

  • La Cambiale di Matrimonio at La Fenice

    * Notes * This month Teatro La Fenice is performing Rossini's first opera, La Cambiale di Matrimonio, in Teatro Malibran. The opera is only one act and director Enzo Dara certainly makes the most of the scant 75 minutes it takes to perform. The sets and costumes, from Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia, feature…

  • Věc Makropulos at La Fenice

    * Notes * La Fenice is currently presenting the Robert Carsen production of Věc Makropulos. Carsen sets much of the action in an opera house, starting with Emilia Marty on stage during the overture, switching in and out of various opera costumes. Act II is clearly backstage after Turandot, and Act III is simply in…

  • SFCM’s Ariodante

    * Notes * San Francisco Conservatory Baroque Ensemble presented two semi-staged performances of Händel's Ariodante last weekend. Corey Jamason conducted the orchestra, and the period instruments sounded full in Caroline H. Hume Concert Hall. Staying in tune proved rather challenging at times, at least on Sunday afternoon. The musicians did play with much spirit and…