The Opera Tattler
Reviews of Performances and their Audiences
Category: San Francisco Performances
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* Notes * The third recital of the 2011-2012 vocal series at San Francisco Performances featured soprano Karita Mattila (pictured left, photograph by Lauri Eriksson) accompanied by pianist Martin Katz. Yesterday evening's performance started with Poulenc's Banalités, a set of five songs using texts by Apollinaire. The pieces did not readily relate to one another.…
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* Notes *Soprano Nadine Sierra gave a recital with pianist Tamara Sanikidze for the Salons at the Rex series Wednesday evening. The two Adler Fellows created a genial atmosphere, speaking to the audience at length about the pieces and about how they first met at Music Academy of the West. The short program included "Je veux…
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* Notes * San Francisco Performances' 2011-2012 recital series continued with baritone Simon Keenlyside (pictured left, photograph by Ben Ealovega) accompanied by pianist Malcolm Martineau last night. There were programs this time, and all the texts were provided. As it happened, the recital was so gripping that it was quite difficult to even look at…
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* Notes * San Francisco Performances featured mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe (pictured left, photograph by Kobie van Rensburg) in a charming recital last night. Somehow the programs for the performance went missing, and we were given photocopies of the most relevant pages. As it turned out, Blythe had not provided the texts in program, and she explained…
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* Notes * San Francisco Performances presented tenor Anthony Dean Griffey (pictured left, photo by Harry Heleotis) in a recital of songs in English last Wednesday. The evening began with fiddler Paul Brown playing Fisher's Hornpipe. Brown started out of view, playing Griffey and himself onto the stage, where there were two chairs, three banjos, and…
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* Notes * The Tetzlaff Quartet (pictured left by Alexandra Vosding) is just finishing a tour of the United States. The ensemble's penultimate stop at Herbst Theatre was presented by San Francisco Performances. The evening began with Haydn's String Quartet in G minor, Op. 20, No. 3, which was played with fire and nuanced dynamics. Violinist…
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Whilst the Opera Tattler attended the sold-out performance of Takács Quartet in Berkeley last Sunday, the Last Chinese Unicorn was over in San Francisco for Elza van den Heever's recital presented by San Francisco Performances. * Notes * My biggest complaint today when it comes to opera singers is that nobody is willing to take risks anymore.…
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* Notes *Soprano Heidi Melton gave a recital with pianist John Churchwell for the Salons at the Rex series yesterday evening. The first half of Melton's performance consisted of art songs by Sibelius and Korngold. As far as the pieces of the former, "Tuol Laulaa Neitonen" was rather dreamy, while "Hiljainen Kaupunki" had an otherworldly quality.…
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Whilst the Opera Tattler attended the opening performance of The Makropulos Case at the War Memorial Opera House last Wednesday, the Last Chinese Unicorn was at the nearby Herbst Theatre for a program presented by San Francisco Performances. * Notes * As soon as the lovely Measha Brueggergosman stepped on stage she lit up the entire…
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