The Opera Tattler
Reviews of Performances and their Audiences
Category: Opera Review
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* Notes * San Francisco Opera‘s latest production of La fanciulla del West (The Girl of the Golden West) opened last night. The production, directed by Lorenzo Mariani and with sets from Maurizio Balò, is cute without being busy or cluttered. The male chorus sounded fine and the ensemble cast did well. The waltz in Act I…
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* Notes * Gounod’s Faust opened at San Francisco Opera last weekend. I had briefly entertained the idea of driving back from Southern California where I was seeing LA Opera’s Ring for this, but decided it would be too disruptive to both my schedule and state of mind. Even at Tuesday night’s performance, it was a bit…
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* Notes * The first cycle of LA Opera’s Ring Festival concluded with Götterdämmerung last night. James Conlon kept the orchestra at a controlled pace, and the volume was never overwhelming. The brass was not terribly secure, even sounding chaotic at times. The horn calls were respectable, albeit very careful and slow. The chorus sounded lovely…
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* Notes * Siegfried was performed yesterday as part of Los Angeles Opera's Ring Festival. James Conlon kept the orchestra sounding fairly restrained, the brass continued to have rough patches, but the singing and playing was more synchronized than in the first two operas. Stacey Tappan shimmered as the Waldvogel, her fluttery voice is suited to…
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* Notes * Los Angeles Opera's Ring cycle continued with Die Walküre yesterday evening. The orchestra sounded fairly good under James Conlon, though at times they did play gingerly, carefully hitting each note. The cello solo in the beginning of Act I Scene 1 was lovely, but the brass did not sound clean for Hunding's Leitmotiv.…
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* Notes * Los Angeles Opera's first Ring cycle began with Das Rheingold last night. James Conlon had the orchestra sounding cohesive and supportive, though the musicians and singers were not always perfectly together. There were a few sour notes from the brass, but for the most part the playing was not bad. The voices of…
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* Notes *The world premiere of Daron Aric Hagen‘s Amelia had a promising opening at Seattle Opera last night. The production, directed by Stephen Wadsworth and designed by Thomas Lynch, is both smart and tasteful. Some of the scene changes were rather noisy, and this was particularly unfortunate as it interrupted the music. Wadsworth’s story…
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* Notes *Händel’s Serse had a strong opening yesterday evening at Houston Grand Opera. The production, from the English National Opera, is entertaining, and features astroturf as a main stage element. The chorus seemed to all be painted grey, and the supernumeraries white. During the overture, the principals are introduced in turn, with the names…
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* Notes *The production of Aaron Copland's The Tender Land at Berkeley Opera is both lively and heartfelt. The music was quite cute and rather transparent, and the thirteen musicians sounded together under Philip Kuttner. The singing was consistent and the acting was convincing. The chorus sounded nice during the party scene in Act II.…
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* Notes * Half a dozen Adler Fellows put on Hugo Weisgall's The Stronger and Mozart's The Impresario at Livermore Valley Opera last Sunday. Pianist Tamara Sanikidze played the astringent music with aplomb, and Leah Crocetto managed to command attention despite how unsympathetic the character of Estelle could be. Maya Lahyani acted the mute role of Lisa…
The Opera Tattler 