The Opera Tattler
Reviews of Performances and their Audiences
Category: Opera Review
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* Notes *Opera Parallèle is presenting the West Coast premiere of Fellow Travelers (Scene 6 pictured, photograph by Stefan Cohen) this weekend in San Francisco at the Presidio Theatre. The opera, a love story set in McCarthy era Washington DC, features a wordy libretto by Greg Spears and lyrical music from Gregory Spears. Directed by…
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* Notes *A revival of Händel's Partenope returned to San Francisco Opera last night. The sleek staging (Act III pictured, photograph by Cory Weaver) is still very funny and the cast is fantastic. Even though Händel wrote 42 operas, we usually only hear Giulio Cesare and Rodelinda. Partenope (1730) had its first performances in the…
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* Notes *San Francisco Symphony performed Schoenberg’s Erwartung (1909) for the first time on Friday. Conducted by outgoing music director Esa-Pekka Salonen, the orchestra sounded splendid at the Saturday performance I attended. The musicians were very clear and together, while soprano Mary Elizabeth Williams (pictured as the Woman, photograph by Kristen Loken) sounded hearty, always…
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* Notes *Hearing Saariaho's Innocence a second time at San Francisco Opera is most gratifying. The music is richly layered and the orchestra sounds great, as do the singers. The whole production is at a very high level, it was even more obvious from the orchestra level how perfectly coordinated the staging was, and how…
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* Notes * I attended San Francisco Opera's Die Zauberflöte with my family last Sunday, our first with all four of us. It was also my seven-year-old's (pictured left, photograph by author) first time to the War Memorial Opera House. Again, my favorite part was hearing Eun Sun Kim conduct the San Francisco Opera Orchestra. It…
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* Notes *Kaija Saariaho's Innocence had a U.S. premiere last night at San Francisco Opera, almost exactly a year after her death. The performance was gripping, the music, narrative, and staging all had a relentless intensity. As with Adriana Mater, the opera from Saariaho performed by San Francisco Symphony the previous June, Innocence deals with…
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* Notes * Barrie Kosky and Suzanne Andrade’s delightful and clever production of Die Zauberflöte (end of Act I Scene 3 pictured left, photograph by Cory Weaver) opened at San Francisco Opera last night. Eun Sun Kim conducted a beautifully transparent performance with much lovely singing. This 2012 production originates from Komische Oper Berlin and stages…
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* Notes * In April Pocket Opera did a charming run of Cunning Little Vixen (Příhody lišky Bystroušky) and I managed to catch the last performance at the Legion of Honor in San Francisco last weekend. It was the premiere of this translation from Pocket Opera's late founder Donald Pippin. Janacek's opera was done in…
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* Notes * Daniel Catán's Florencia en el Amazonas (Act II pictured, photograph by David Allen) had a long overdue Bay Area premiere at Opera San José last weekend. The attractive new production features lots of strong singing. The music is reminiscent of Puccini, lots of shimmery swells of sound. The orchestra sounded robust under…
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* Notes *Opera Parallèle gave a splendid performance of two comedic one-act operas yesterday at SFJAZZ. Done in one go, the evening began with David T. Little's Vinkensport, or The Finch Opera (pictured, photograph by Kristen Loken), which was followed by Laura Karpman's Balls. It was impressive how cohesively these works were presented together, both…
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