The Opera Tattler
Reviews of Performances and their Audiences
Category: San Francisco Opera
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* Notes * Il Trovatore, the first opera at San Francisco Opera this season opened last night with lots of varied and beautiful playing from the orchestra. There was strong singing from the chorus and from the principals. Maestra Eun Sun Kim continues to impress, her tempi hold my attention. The tradeoff is that there are…
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* 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…
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* 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…
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* 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…
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September 8 2023: Opera Ball: Concert with Aleksandra Kurzak, Roberto Alagna, and Eun Sun KimSeptember 12–October 1 2023: Il TrovatoreSeptember 22–October 7 2023: Mason Bates’ The Revolution of Steve JobsOctober 15– November 1 2023: LohengrinNovember 5–21 2023: Rhiannon Giddens and Michael Abels’ OmarNovember 19–December 9 2023: L’elisir d’amore May 30–June 30 2024: Die ZauberflöteJune 1–21…
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* Notes * The last performance of Orfeo ed Euridice (Act III pictured, photograph by Matthew Washburn) this season at San Francisco Opera had soprano Anne-Marie MacIntosh filling in as Euridice, as Meigui Zhang was indisposed. The December 1st performance was full and standing room in the balcony was rife with latecomers who were unable to…
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* Notes * Matthew Ozawa's beautiful new production of Orfeo ed Euridice (Act III pictured, photograph by Cory Weaver) opened at San Francisco Opera last week. I attended the second performance last night, and the debuts of Maestro Peter Whelan and countertenor Jakub Józef Orliński as Orfeo were both impressive. The musicians were laid out in…
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* Notes * A brand new production of Verdi's La Traviata (Act II Scene 2 pictured, photograph by Cory Weaver) opened at San Francisco Opera yesterday evening, kicking off a series of operas by this composer conducted by our new Music Director Eun Sun Kim. The orchestra sounded lovely, but definitely more restrained than in previous…
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* Notes * Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmélites (Act II pictured, photograph by Cory Weaver) opened at San Francisco Opera last weekend after an absence of forty years on the War Memorial stage. The stark production from Olivier Py that features a lot of flat cut outs, shadows, and chalk was moving. The music and singing were…
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* Notes * Robert Carsen’s 1997 production of Eugene Onegin (Act II Scene 1 pictured, photograph by Cory Weaver) opened at San Francisco Opera this afternoon with a youthful cast of newcomers and the vibrant debut of conductor Vassilis Christopoulos. The overture sounded stately under Maestro Christopoulos, who had his U.S. debut with this performance. Not…
The Opera Tattler 