The Opera Tattler

Reviews of Performances and their Audiences

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Category: Opera Review

  • Confess the Flame her Tongue Denyes

    * Notes * Yesterday in San Francisco, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra performed the first of six performances celebrating Henry Purcell. The evening started with his "O Sing Unto the Lord a New Song," Chacony in G minor, "Hear My Prayer, O Lord," and the Suite from Abdelazer, or The Moor's Revenge. Conducted by Music Director Nicholas McGegan,…

  • Salome at SF Opera

    * Notes * San Francisco Opera's Salome had a second performance last night, after opening last Sunday. Maestro Luisotti was more restrained in this than in Il Trovatore or the Brahms he conducted across the street. The orchestra never overwhelmed the singing, but still had a florid quality. The sleek production, designed by Bruno Schwengl, is elegant…

  • Aida at the Metropolitan Opera

    * Notes * A revival of Aida opened earlier this month at the Metropolitan Opera, and the Opera Tattler attended last Saturday's matinée at a score desk. The orchestra sounded tastefully restrained under Daniele Gatti, but not without emotion. The tempi and the dynamic nuances were unmistakable, and the playing was fairly clean and rarely overwhelmed…

  • La fille du régiment at SF Opera

    * Notes * San Francisco Opera's La fille du régiment opened last Tuesday. The production, directed by Laurent Pelly, is outrageously silly, involving laundry, potatoes, and very large maps. Karine Girard's slapstick choreography was cute and worked well on the all the singers. The acting overall was charming and everyone looked quite comfortable. It was surprising how…

  • Kelsey in Trovatore

    * Notes * Quinn Kelsey replaced Dmitri Hvorostovsky as the Count di Luna in San Francisco Opera's Il Trovatore yesterday afternoon. Kelsey sounded warm and rich, without being too dark in the least. His breath control was incredible, not one gasp was heard. On the other hand, he was not particularly menacing, though his portrayal of longing…

  • Walewska in Trovatore

    * Notes * Malgorzata Walewska took the stage as Azucena in San Francisco Opera's Il Trovatore last night. Walewska certainly came across as crazy, more so than Stephanie Blythe, with whom she is sharing the role. Unfortunately Walewska's voice did not project well over the orchestra, and when she sang with Marco Berti this was especially…

  • Silvestrelli in Entführung

    * Notes * Andrea Silvestrelli replaced Peter Rose as Osmin in SF Opera's Die Entführung aus dem Serail last night. Silvestrelli has a lovely warm voice with a good heft, and a certain throaty quality. He was a bit quiet and creaky for that first low D in "O, wie will ich triumphieren," but he was…

  • A House in Bali

    * Notes * The American premiere of Evan Ziporyn‘s dance-opera A House in Bali was presented by Cal Performances last weekend. This ambitious project involves percussion, bass, keyboard, cello, violin, guitar, a 15-piece gamelan orchestra, Balinese dancers, opera singers, Balinese singers, and real-time videography. Despite a panoply of instruments, the two ensembles, the Bang on a Can…

  • Die Entführung aus dem Serail at SF Opera

    * Notes * Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail (The Abduction from the Seraglio) opened at San Francisco Opera yesterday evening. The production, designed by David Zinn, features an adorable 18th century theatre and lavish costumes. Director Chas Rader-Shieber did not use the set to its best advantage. There were some amusing moments, as when the…

  • Il Trittico at SF Opera

    * Notes * Il Trittico opened at San Francisco Opera last night with Patricia Racette singing all three of the major soprano roles. The production, directed by James Robinson, is clean and simple. Allen Moyer's sets are unostentatious, the three are not tied together in an obvious way, yet still look like they match each other. Patrick…