The Opera Tattler

Reviews of Performances and their Audiences

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Category: Stephanie Blythe

  • Die Walküre at the Met (Cycle 2)

    * Notes * The second Ring cycle this season at the Met continued with a matinée of Die Walküre (Act II, Scene 1 pictured left, photograph by Ken Howard/Metropolitan Opera) yesterday. The limitations of "The Machine" became more apparent in this opera. Robert Lepage's direction is restricted by how the set moves and where people can…

  • Das Rheingold at the Met (Cycle 2)

    * Notes * A second Ring cycle began with Das Rheingold (Scene 4 pictured left, photograph by Ken Howard/Metropolitan Opera) last night at the Met. Robert Lepage’s production involves a series of about 24 jointed panels that can be arranged in many different configurations. Known as “The Machine,” Carl Fillion’s set is not unlike a huge…

  • Rodelinda at the Met

    * Notes *A revival of Rodelinda (Act II pictured left, photograph by Ken Howard) is currently underway at the Metropolitan Opera. Since I saw this opera in 2006, I opted to hear this at a score desk on Wednesday. The acoustics are quite flattering to voices at Score Desk 3, and everyone could be easily…

  • Stephanie Blythe at SF Performances

     * 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…

  • MMDG’s Dido and Aeneas

     * Notes * The Mark Morris Dance Group (pictured left, photograph by Beatriz Schiller) opened the new season at Cal Performances with Dido and Aeneas yesterday evening. The audience seemed completely rapt by the experience, and I have never attended a Baroque opera with so little fidgeting or noise. Morris fills all the music with choreography,…

  • Stephanie Blythe Interview

    Last Saturday mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe (pictured left, photo by Kobie van Rensburg) finished singing the role Fricka in Die Walküre at the Metropolitan Opera. Later this month she will sing the Verdi Requiem and Elijah at the May Festival in Cincinnati. In August she will be the soloist in the Brahms Alto Rhapsody at Tanglewood.…

  • Die Walküre at the Met (Lepage)

    Whilst the Opera Tattler attended a performance of Séance on a Wet Afternoon at the David H. Koch Theater on April 28, 2011, Miss LCU was nearby at Lepage’s new production of Die Walküre (Act III pictured left, © Ken Howard/Metropolitan Opera) with the Unbiased Opinionator. * Notes * Of late, James Levine gets credit for…

  • Das Rheingold at the Met (Lepage)

    An account of the final performance of Das Rheingold this season at the Metropolitan Opera from the Unbiased Opinionator. * Notes * Director Robert Lepage gave an extensive interview in New York City last fall about his conception of the Ring. He spent considerable time in Iceland, and said that no one who lived in the…

  • PBO’s 2011-2012 Season

    September 15-17 2011: Dido & Aeneas September 22-25 2011: Mozart & Haydn October 25-30 2011: Arias for Farinelli November 18-22 2011: Marion Verbruggen & The Italian BaroqueDecember 2-6 2011: Bach's Mass in B minor January 26-29 2012: Richard Egarr: Masters of the English Baroque March 6-11 2012: Steven Isserlis: The Classical Cello April 20-25 2012:…

  • Il Trittico at the Met

    * Notes * The latest run of Il Trittico at the Met opened last night. Stefano Ranzani made a fine debut, his tempi were elastic, and for the most part the orchestra did not overwhelm the singers. Patricia Racette sang the three soprano roles, as she did recently in San Francisco. Her voice showed some strain,…