The Opera Tattler
Reviews of Performances and their Audiences
Category: Opera Review
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An account of Capriccio this season at the Metropolitan Opera from the Unbiased Opinionator. * Notes * “Indian Summer” is used by music historians to describe the re-flowering of Richard Strauss’ creative powers toward the end of his life, after the catastrophe of World War II. This re-flowering, which occurred after a period of jaded stagnation,…
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An account of the final performance of Das Rheingold this season at the Metropolitan Opera from the Unbiased Opinionator. * Notes * Director Robert Lepage gave an extensive interview in New York City last fall about his conception of the Ring. He spent considerable time in Iceland, and said that no one who lived in the…
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* Notes * SFCM Opera Theatre presented Poulenc’s Dialogue of the Carmelites, in English translation, last weekend. Michael Morgan held the orchestra together, and for the most part, the orchestra and singers were on beat. There was some raggedness in the brass and woodwinds, and the music certainly did not sound easy. Whatever was used for…
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* Notes * This weekend Cal Performances presented Castleton Festival‘s Albert Herring. The production involves much abuse of artificial fruit. It was particularly unsatisfying when the title character threw fake peaches against a Plexiglas window in Act II. The use of astroturf was, however, entertaining. The cast, as with The Rape of Lucretia, boasted not a…
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* Notes * Cal Performances presented Castleton Festival's The Rape of Lucretia this week. The opera itself struck me as highly contrived, even for an opera, framed by not one but two narrators. There was a lot of telling rather than showing. The production was not particularly illuminating, though it did have moments of beauty, especially…
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* Notes * Vivaldi's Orlando Furioso at Théâtre des Champs-Élysées was an airy, understated affair. Directed by Pierre Audi, the action seemed to involve much spinning around, overturning furniture, and the like. Particularly amusing was when Orlando sang to a slowing descending Venetian chandelier at the end of Act II. Patrick Kinmonth's sets and costumes were…
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* Notes * Saturday night's performance of Death in Venice at Teatro alla Scala had a strong visual appeal. Unfortunately, since so many of the sightlines seem rather poor in the house, this aspect may have been lost on the droves of audience members that left at intermission. Jean Kalman's lighting was particularly beautiful, evoking the…
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* Notes * Opernhaus Zürich held a performance of Cavalleria rusticana and Pagliacci Wednesday night. Grischa Asagaroff’s production was straightforward, the set simple, the costumes very cute. The orchestra sounded lovely under Stefano Ranzani, fluid and clear. Cavalleria rusticana featured Beatrice Uria-Monzon (Santuzza) and José Cura (Turiddu). Uria-Monzon embodied her role, the anguish in her voice…
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* Notes * De Munt has revived a production of La Finta Giardiniera from the National Theatre, Prague, but based on one originally from De Munt that premiered in 1986. Directed by Karl-Ernst Herrmann and Ursel Herrmann, the production featured a little person, one Mireille Mossé, who seemed to be the ringmaster of this circus of…
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* Notes * The cast for Lyric Opera of Chicago's Hercules is nothing short of impressive. The Thursday matinée performance seemed well-attended, even the lecture from director Peter Sellars was rather full. Sellars certainly expressed a strong conception for how he staged this oratorio, and has both respect and understanding for the work. However, sometimes…
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