The Opera Tattler
Reviews of Performances and their Audiences
Category: San Francisco Opera
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* Notes * Former General Director Lotfi Mansouri’s production of Die Fledermaus was revived this season at San Francisco Opera and ends its run this Friday. Wolfram Skalicki’s trompe-l’œil sets are reminiscent of Edward Gorey drawings. Thierry Bosquet’s costumes are 19th century and suit the operetta. Peggy Hickey’s choreography was a bit on the dull…
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* Notes * A revival of Rigeletto opened September 30th at San Francisco Opera. Mark Lamos’ production from 1997 inaugurated the last General Director’s tenure back in 2001. There were a few changes from the last time around, the dancers with exposed bosoms in the first scene were gone, and the lighting was less lurid.…
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* Notes * Deborah Voigt recovered enough to sing Amelia at the closing of Un Ballo in San Francisco on September 29th. Both she and Anna Christy (Oscar) stood out as good. I noticed that Marcus Haddock (Gustavus III) doesn’t have a certain staccato quality that is necessary for some of the music. After seeing…
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This week, San Francisco Opera received a $35 million gift from philanthropist Jeannik Mequet Littlefield, pictured here (right) with her daughter-in-law Sandy Montenegro Littlefield in September 2005 at last season’s opening. IHT Article
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Soprano Deborah Voigt was ill with a stomach flu last night, and her understudy, Erin Wood, made her San Francisco Opera debut as Amelia in Un Ballo in Maschera. Wood’s voice is cold and pretty, but not nearly as expansive as Voigt’s. At times she was slightly shrill and had too much vibrato. Wood wore…
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* Notes * A Washington National Opera production of Un Ballo in Maschera opened the new season in San Francisco under the direction of Gina Lapinski. Entirely traditional in set and costume design, it was a spectacle quite pleasing to the eye with much Louis XIV splendor. There are six scenes but only one intermission,…
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Yesterday in the standing room line for Un Ballo in Maschera, two men behind me were yelling at each other. "Shut up!" said one, and "No, you shut up!" said the other. At first I assumed they must be friends simply having a bit of fun, but it became clear this altercation was in earnest.…
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A revival of Le Nozze di Figaro opened last Saturday, directed by John Copley. The production is of the standard traditional type, the setting is a Spanish villa, curiously there is no set designer credited. There are four sets, one for each act, none painfully elaborate, no moving parts, everything is quiet and simple. This…
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A revival of Madama Butterfly opened 27. May at San Francisco Opera. Directed by Ron Daniels and designed by Michael Yeargan, the production involves shoji screens that slide across the stage. This device was used quite a lot, and it was slightly tiresome. Also, the paintings and calligraphy on the screens in Act I were…
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Looking at the upcoming season for 2006-2007 for San Francisco Opera, I felt a bit boggled. Even the new site design was somewhat alarming, simply because the aesthetic is about a 180 degree turn, from pop to traditional. Then I remembered that Pamela Rosenberg has left for the Berlin Philharmonic and David Gockley, most recently…
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