The Opera Tattler

Reviews of Performances and their Audiences

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Category: Opera Review

  • Heart of a Soldier World Premiere

    * Notes * The world premiere of Heart of a Soldier (Act II pictured left, photograph by Cory Weaver) given by San Francisco Opera last night. The opera is about the life of Rick Rescorla, the director of security of Morgan Stanley who lost his life as the in the September 11th attacks after evacuating 2,700…

  • SF Opera’s Turandot (Opening Night 2011-2012)

    * Notes * San Francisco Opera‘s 89th season opened last night with a revival of Turandot (Iréne Theorin, Marco Berti, and Joseph Frank in Act III pictured left, photograph by Cory Weaver). David Hockney‘s production is as garish as ever, but quite functional, as the sets only move minimally for the scene changes. This keeps the…

  • Ensemble Parallèle’s 4 Saints in 3 Acts

    * Notes *Virgil Thomson's Four Saints in Three Acts (Maya Srinivasan, Eugene Brancoveanu, and Brooke Muñoz pictured right, photograph by Steve DiBartolomeo) opened in a new production from Ensemble Parallèle last night in San Francisco. The performances are a collaboration between Ensemble Parallèle and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, in association with the…

  • Porgy and Bess at Seattle Opera

    * Notes * Porgy and Bess (Mary Elizabeth Williams as Serena and Gordon Hawkins as Porgy pictured left, photograph by Elise Bakketun) had a sixth performance at Seattle Opera on Sunday afternoon. Chris Alexander's production is serviceable, though perhaps blunt. The set, from Michael Scott, is attractive, but does not facilitate scene changes. The music was often…

  • Merola Opera Program’s Barber of Seville (Friday)

    * Notes *The Merola Opera Program‘s Il barbiere di Siviglia (Act II, Scene 5 with Renée Rapier, Daniel Curran, Peixin Chen, Mark Diamond, and John Maynard pictured left; photograph by Kristen Loken) returned with a second cast on Friday night. The orchestra, conducted by Mark Morash, sounded more comfortable this time around. Again, this group…

  • Merola Opera Program’s Barber of Seville (Thursday)

    * Notes *The Merola Opera Program‘s Il barbiere di Siviglia (Act II, Scene 11 with Jonathan Michie, Suzanne Rigden, and Heath Huberg pictured left; photograph by Kristen Loken) opened last night at Herbst Theatre in San Francisco. Mark Morash held the orchestra together without rushing terribly. The cast was robust, with many pretty voices and…

  • Wozzeck at Santa Fe Opera

      * Notes *Santa Fe Opera‘s revival of Wozzeck last Saturday was nothing short of impressive. The orchestra had a full and intense sound under David Robertson, only occasionally overwhelming the singers. Daniel Slater’s production has a fine, stark clarity. The Fool (played by Randall Bills) as Wozzeck’s double was artful. The set, designed by…

  • Griselda at Santa Fe Opera

    * Notes *Vivaldi's Griselda (Act III pictured left, photograph by Ken Howard) at Santa Fe Opera had a third performance last night. The small orchestra lilted under Maestro Grant Gershon, but were not always with the singers. The cast features many fine voices. Isabel Leonard (Constanza) looked lovely in her white ruffled gown with red…

  • Festival Opera’s La Traviata

    * Notes *Festival Opera's 2011 season opened with La Traviata last night in Walnut Creek. Conducted by Maestro Michael Morgan, the orchestra sounded enthusiastic and full, but there were some glaring intonation problems. The chorus was likewise sounded eager, though not perfectly together. The cast boasted many familiar faces, and the singing and acting was…

  • SF Opera’s Götterdämmerung Cycle 3

    * Notes * Der Ring des Nibelungen at San Francisco Opera came to a spectacular conclusion with Götterdämmerung (Prologue pictured left, photo by Cory Weaver) today. The orchestra played beautifully for Maestro Donald Runnicles. There were only two or three sour moments, and even these were fleeting and did not detract from the overall brilliance of…