The Opera Tattler

Reviews of Performances and their Audiences

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Category: Pocket Opera

  • Pocket Opera’s Cunning Little Vixen

    * Notes * In April Pocket Opera did a charming run of Cunning Little Vixen (Příhody lišky Bystroušky) and I managed to catch the last performance at the Legion of Honor in San Francisco last weekend. It was the premiere of this translation from Pocket Opera's late founder Donald Pippin. Janacek's opera was done in…

  • No Love Allowed at Pocket Opera

    * Notes * Last month Pocket Opera put on three performances of Wagner's No Love Allowed (Das Liebesverbot). I attended the delightful May 15 matinée at the Hillside Club in Berkeley. The English language production had a lot of charm and some beautiful voices, and though I did miss Pocket Opera's founder Donald Pippin's wry…

  • Don Giovanni at Pocket Opera

    * Notes * Pocket Opera opened the 2020 season with Don Giovanni yesterday afternoon at the Hillside Club in Berkeley. The singing and staging of this English language performance was one of the most engaging I've experienced of Mozart's dark comedy. Donald Pippin, the Artistic Director Emeritus of Pocket Opera, has retired and this is…

  • Eugene Onegin at Pocket Opera

    * Notes * Pocket Opera performed an English language version of Eugene Onegin yesterday at the Hillside Club in Berkeley. Donald Pippin is utterly charming, and his narration and translation of the text were both lively. The production is likewise cute and accessible. Though the playing was not entirely together and the musicians were far…

  • La belle Hélène at Pocket Opera

    * 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…

  • Pocket Opera’s Martha

    * Notes * Pocket Opera's 30th season opened yesterday with Friedrich von Flotow's Martha. This company presents opera in English translation with a narrator, a small cast, and a refreshing unpretentiousness. Donald Pippin, the founder and artistic director of Pocket Opera, does all the translations, narrations, and plays piano accompaniment. For Martha, he lead the…