The Opera Tattler
Reviews of Performances and their Audiences
Category: Opera Review
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* Notes * Pocket Opera opened the 2009 season with Offenbach's La belle Hélène last month in Berkeley, with subsequent performances in San Francisco. The production was almost cloyingly sweet. Everyone was perfectly adorable, especially the charming pianist and narrator Donald Pippin. The musical values were appropriate for the small venue. Megan Stetson certainly made for…
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* Notes * The Conservatory Baroque Ensemble of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music gave a delightful student performance of Rinaldo last Saturday. The vocalists were very fine, and Rinaldo's "Cara sposa" was sung particularly well. The musicians were not always perfectly together, exposed as they were by the smallness of the group and, simply,…
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* Notes * A double-bill of Bluebeard's Castle and Erwartung opened at Seattle Opera this evening. The two works were originally directed by Robert Lepage for the Canadian Opera Company, but were directed by François Racine in Seattle. The Bartók was stunning, though the orchestra was not always perfect under Evan Rogister, the music is compelling and the production…
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* Notes * Massenet's Don Quichotte opened at San Diego Opera on Valentine's Day, after a nearly 40-year absence from that opera's stage. Ralph Funicello's scenic design for this production is much in keeping with a very traditional aesthetic and Missy West's costumes invoked the ineluctable Gustav Doré illustrations of Don Quixote, though the influence of Velasquez and Murillo was also…
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* Notes * Last Saturday San Diego Opera opened with a revival of Tosca. The production is distinctly Jean-Pierre Ponnelle's, and he originally designed it for San Francisco Opera in 1972. Everything looked utterly traditional and as one would expect, as Suzanne Mess' costumes were in keeping with the sets. The singing was strong. Sylvie Valayre was…
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* Notes * The West Coast premiere of Jake Heggie's Three Decembers was presented by Cal Performances and San Francisco Opera last night. This chamber opera involves just three singers and less than a dozen musicians, including two pianos played by the composer himself and the conductor, Patrick Summers. The work is unchallenging, the arias…
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* Notes * This second cast of San Francisco Opera’s current production of La Bohème is impressive. For one thing, the youthfulness of the singers certainly was fitting for the roles, no one looked out of place in that regard. Brian Leerhuber was the only one of the Bohemians in both casts, and he seemed comfortable…
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* Notes * The eighth performance of San Francisco Opera's La Bohème starred Melody Moore instead of Angela Gheorghiu as Mimì. Ms. Moore sounded lovely, her voice is warmer than Gheorghiu's, and louder, but also has the necessary delicacy. Her voice blended beautifully with Piotr Beczala's, especially during "Addio dolce svegliare alla mattina!" However,…
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* Notes * Los Angeles Opera is midway through a revival of Carmen from Teatro Real. Emilio Sagi's production is a bit avant garde, the set is traditional looking enough, and the costumes have a traditional feel with a few rough edges. The ending has been fiddled with, such that Carmen somehow takes a…
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* Notes * La Bohème opened yesterday afternoon at San Francisco Opera with incoming music director Nicola Luisotti conducting. His tempi were quite elastic, though even when he drew out parts, they did not sound sluggish in the least. The singing was all fine, even wobbly Norah Ansellem (Musetta) managed to be convincing, though…
The Opera Tattler 