The Opera Tattler
Reviews of Performances and their Audiences
Category: Uncategorized
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The incoming 2026 Adler Fellows are soprano Sofia Gotch (Oakland, California), mezzo-soprano Sadie Cheslak (Duluth, Minnesota), and baritone Gabriel Natal-Báez (Toa Alta, Puerto Rico). Soprano Mary Hoskins (Saratoga Springs, Utah), coach/pianist Ji Youn Lee (Seoul, South Korea), and baritone Olivier Zerouali (Middletown, Delaware continue in the program as second-year fellows while tenor Thomas Kinch (Cardiff,…
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* Notes * The second performance of Parsifal (Act I, Scene 2 pictured, photograph by Cory Weaver) San Francisco Opera last night. It was interesting to experience this opera from the orchestra level, I was better able to appreciate the details of the production. Also the orchestra sounded even better than the previous two times…
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A Children’s Opera About Space * Notes * Opera Parallèle held the world premiere of Hello, Star (pictured, photograph by Stefan Cohen) an earnest chamber opera for children by composer Carla Lucero and librettist Jarrod Lee last weekend. Music director Nicole Paiement had the tiny orchestra of nine people sounding utterly crystalline and beautiful. Based…
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* Notes * Parsifal (Act II, Scene 1 pictured, photograph by Cory Weaver) returned to San Francisco Opera’s War Memorial Opera Stage after an absence of twenty-five years yesterday afternoon. There was much strong singing from principals and chorus alike, but best of all was the orchestra helmed by Eun Sun Kim. The new production…
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* Notes * Continuing the celebration of composer Avro Pärt’s 90th birthday, the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir (pictured, photograph by Kaupo Kikkas) and the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra performed his works at Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall yesterday evening. Led by Tõnu Kaljuste, these vocal pieces in a more intimate space were striking. Maestro Kaljuste did not…
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The 90th birthday of composer Avro Pärt * Notes * The Estonian Festival Orchestra conducted by Paavo Järvi were joined by a number of soloists at Carnegie Hall last night to celebrate the 90th birthday of composer Avro Pärt (pictured, photograph courtesy of Eric Marinitsch/Arvo Pärt Centre) with a program entirely of his works. Hearing…
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* Notes * Twenty-five years after San Francisco Opera premiered Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking (Act II pictured, photograph by Cory Weaver), the opera again graced the War Memorial Opera House stage this afternoon. The drama of this piece is quite intense and the singing and was strong. Leonard Foglia’s production from 2002 involves many…
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I’m moving this site to a new platform, so please excuse any strange content migration issues.
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* Notes *One Found Sound, a musician-run orchestra without a conductor, launched its Herbert Franklin Mells Project with a premiere of his Symphony No. 1 in D minor last Saturday night at Heron Arts in San Francisco. Dr. Mells (1908-1953) was prevented from publishing his work in his lifetime, despite the fact that he received…
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Soprano Meigui Zhang (pictured) will make her role debut as Eurydice in San Francisco Opera's Orpheus and Eurydice which opens on November 15. She replaces Christina Gansch who is expecting her second child and has withdrawn from the production. Orpheus and Eurydice | San Francisco Opera Press Release
The Opera Tattler 