The Opera Tattler
Reviews of Performances and their Audiences
Category: Opera Review
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* Notes * Last night I was invited at the last minute to hear Macbeth again, from box seats, so I gave the opera another try. Of course there was no booing this time, so I did laugh a good deal less. From Box O, I was able to see the green slime on Duncan…
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* Notes * Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress opened yesterday in a co-production with Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, Opéra de Lyon, Royal Opera, Covent Garden, and Teatro Real Madrid. The opera was taken from the 16th century into the 1950s, so taken from when Hogarth's paintings are set to when the opera was premiered. The…
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* Notes * I gave La Rondine a second chance, and listened to it in the balcony standing room area last night. The sets and costumes were beautiful from afar as well, and the disco ball in Act II was not visible, so not blinding. Even still, I could see why this opera has only…
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* Notes * It was as expected, the audience at the Macbeth opening was, on the whole, discontent with the production and even booed the members of production team that dared to take bows. That is quite a feat, the last time I heard Americans boo at a production was five years ago at Alcina.…
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* Notes * Verdi’s Macbeth opens tonight at San Francisco Opera, with Thomas Hampson in the title role. I was fortunate enough to attend the final dress rehearsal last Sunday, and was at least impressed with Hampson. David Pountney’s production, directed by Nicola Raab, is the consummate Regieoper that San Francisco seems to dislike so.…
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* Notes * Puccini’s La Rondine opened at San Francisco Opera yesterday. This co-production with Le Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse and Royal Opera, Covent Garden is easy on the eye. Ezio Frigerio’s set is beautiful, evoking Gustav Klimt and Louis Comfort Tiffany. Likewise, Franca Squarciapino’s Roaring Twenties costumes are quite pretty. The choreography and…
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* Notes * Tonight was the last of eight performance of Iphigénie en Tauride at Seattle Opera.This co-production with the Met is yet another Wadsworth/Lynch collaboration, this one tending more toward the elaborately overwrought (Rodelinda) rather than the staid clean lines (Lohengrin). The stage was had a claustrophobic feel, as it was divided into three…
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* Notes * Appomattox ended its 7 performance run yesterday. Sara Jobin conducted well, and the only weak points I noticed were when the orchestra overwhelmed Brian Leerhuber (Robert E. Lee) at the end of Act I Scene 2 and during the choral "Clap your hands all you people" in Act I Scene 4. Brian…
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* Notes * Last night was the fifth performance of Die Zauberflöte at San Francisco Opera, just over halfway through the run, which closes November 3rd. From standing room in the balcony, one can appreciate the colorful designs on the floor, but sadly, only the arms of the Queen of the Night were visible in…
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* Notes * Peter Hall's 1992 production of Die Zauberflöte opened at San Francisco Opera last Saturday. It certainly was odd to see all of Gerald Scarfe's funny designs again, for this production was my first at Los Angeles Opera, and I did not enjoy it particularly then, as I was even crankier in my…
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