The Opera Tattler

Reviews of Performances and their Audiences

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Category: Opera Review

  • Festival Opera’s Carmen

    * Notes * Festival Opera put on a visceral production of Carmen at the Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek last weekend. The staging was effective and there was a lot of great singing. The small orchestra was conducted by Robert Mollicone, who is on the music staff at San Francisco Opera and…

  • SF Opera’s El último sueño de Frida y Diego

    * Notes *The opening of Gabriela Lena Frank's El último sueño de Frida y Diego (Act I Scene 2 pictured, photograph by Cory Weaver) at San Francisco Opera last night was vivid and visually impressive. There was much great singing, especially from the chorus, and the colors of the orchestra were on full display. This…

  • SF Symphony’s Adriana Mater

    * Notes *Composer Kaija Saariaho (pictured) died last Friday on June 2, and San Francisco Symphony's presentation of her 2005 opera Adriana Mater last night showed what a profound loss this is. Her music is wholly unique and is very much a case for live performance. Saariaho turned Davies Hall into an instrument, her slow…

  • SF Opera’s Die Frau Ohne Schatten

    * Notes *Richard Strauss' Die Frau Ohne Schatten (Act I Scene 2 pictured, photograph by Cory Weaver) returned to San Francisco Opera after an absence of 34 years. The vibrant production by artist David Hockney premiered at Covent Garden way back in 1992, but still has much to recommend it, and the singing and playing…

  • SF Opera’s Madama Butterfly

    * Notes *San Francisco Opera resumed its 100th season with a new production of Madama Butterfly (Act I pictured, photograph by Cory Weaver) directed by Amon Miyamoto and featuring a solid cast. The stars of the show for last night's prima were, however, San Francisco Opera's Music Director Eun Sun Kim and the orchestra. In…

  • Opera Parallèle’s The Shining

    * Notes *Opera Parallèle made a triumphant return to the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater with a chamber version of  Paul Moravec‘s 2016 opera The Shining (beginning of Act I pictured, photograph by Cory Weaver) last night in San Francisco. The piece is based on the novel of the same name by Stephen…

  • Aida at the Met

    * Notes * I considered skipping the Saturday evening performance of Aida (Act II ovation pictured), as my flight out of New York left in the morning, but Sonja Frisell’s production is being retired, so I’d never have another chance to see it in person. I have attended a performance of this Aida production back…

  • La Bohème at the Met

    * Notes * La Bohème (ovation pictured) isn't an opera I go out of my way to see, but since I was already in town for the new Don Giovanni, I attended yesterday's matinée of the Puccini work. The staging is over-the-top, completely delightful, and certainly what people expect from the Met. But my favorite…

  • Don Giovanni at the Met

    * Notes * Director Ivo van Hove's debut production at The Met, Don Giovanni (ovation pictured), opened last night. The direction is sleek and contemporary, but best of all was baritone Peter Mattei in the title role. Essentially the set is part of a square with five grey, brutalist buildings. There are lots of rectangular…

  • PBO’s Amadigi di Gaula

    * Notes * Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and Music Director Richard Egarr did a run of Händel's Amadigi di Gaula last weekend at the Taube Atrium Theater in San Francisco. The soloists (pictured) were all really impressive and the small space seemed to focus the attention of the audience. The piece has a lot of big feelings…