Reviews, appreciation and analysis of all things opera
It has been 16 years since the Santa Fe Opera last presented Mozart’s final opera, “The Magic Flute”. This season the Santa Fe Opera premiered a new production of the opera, co-produced with England’s Garsington Opera Festival. A talented group of opera singers were recruited for the opera’s large cast. Josh Lovell’s Tamino [Photo: Josh … Read more
In October 2023, the Konzert und Theater St-Gallen, Switzerland, mounted the world premiere of Americam composer Tobias Picker’s “Lili Elbe”, whose librettist was Aryeh Lev Stollmon. The world premiere starred transgender baritone Lucia Lucas as Lili and and soprano Sylvia D’Eramo as Gerda Wegener. The premiere’s success led to the opera being awarded the “Best … Read more
In its 2026 season, the Santa Fe Opera presented “Rodelinda”, the eighth opera by George Frideric Handel performed in the company’s history. Lucy Crowe’s Rodelinda [Photo: Rodelinda (Lucy Crowe, right) sits with her son, Flavio (Maximilian Moore left); edited image, based on a Bronwen Sharp photograph, courtesy of the Santa Fe Opera.] British soprano Lucy Crowe … Read more
In 2021, the Santa Fe Opera presented Italian director Alessandro Talevi’s new production of Tchaikovsky’s opera “Eugene Onegin”. Although the company had reopened following the darkened months of 2020 resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic, many compromises had to be made to meet government-imposed limitations on the numbers of persons onstage at the same time. [Photo: … Read more
The late British director Lee Blakeley’s production of “Madama Butterfly” premiered at Santa Fe Opera in 2010. The company revived his production in 2018 and again this season. For both this season and the 2018 revival, Conductor John Fiore utilized the music and libretto of Puccini’s first revision of the score – the now seldom-heard … Read more
The following is a list of four opera performances that I am scheduled to review at the San Francisco Opera and Santa Fe Opera during August and September, 2026. Rodelinda (Handel), Santa Fe Opera, July 25, 29, August 7, 11 and 21, 2026 [Photo: a scene from R.. B. Schlather’s 2023 production of “Rodelinda” at … Read more
The San Francisco Opera revived Keith Warner’s visually absorbing production of Richard Strauss’ “Elektra”, last seen here in 2017 [Review: San Francisco Opera’s “Elektra” – Goerke, Pieczonka in a Gory, Gloriously Sung Night at the Museum – September 9, 2017]. The opera is about a Greek family, consisting of a mother (Klytemnestra), her son Orest … Read more
This is the second review of two consecutive performances of Gioacchino Rossini’s “Il Barbiere di Siviglia”. taking place at the San Francisco Opera in June, 2026. My first review is posted at: Review: Joshua Hopkins, Levy Sekgapane, Maria Kataeva Lead “Barber of Seville” Cast One – San Francisco Opera, June 5, 2026. That review includes … Read more
San Francisco Opera dedicated much of the month of June 2026 to a celebration of Gioacchino Rossini’s most famous opera, “Il Barbiere di Siviglia” which it presented with two alternating casts of principal artists. I attended performances by each cast and am reporting on each separately. Joshua Hopkins’ Figaro [Photo: Figaro (Joshua Hopkins) stands besides … Read more
San Francisco Opera’s first two performance ever of Wagner’s “Das Rheingold” took place in November, 1935 and November, 1936. Its third, fourth and fifth performances would not take place until 31 years later. I was present at the fifth performance in the company’s history. Although I already had seen performances of the second of the … Read more
The following is a list of four opera performances that I am scheduled to review at the San Francisco Opera and Santa Fe Opera from June to August 2026. Elektra (Richard Strauss), San Francisco Opera, June 7(m), 11, 14(m), 19, 23 and 27, 2026. [Photo: Elektra (Elena Pankratova, left) holds a battle axe she has … Read more
Having attended “Ballo in Maschera”, featuring Leontyne Price, on Saturday night, November 18, I returned for San Francisco Opera’s Sunday matinee. This would be my first opportunity to attend a performance of two of most famous products of Modena, Italy — tenor Luciano Pavarotti and soprano Mirella Freni. “Boheme” is Puccini’s (and arguably, the operatic … Read more
The month of November 1967 proved to be a memorable time to attend San Francisco Opera performances. In the first weekend I had attended my second-ever performance of Gounod’s “Faust” starring Alfredo Kraus in the title role and Nicolai Ghiaurov as Mephistopheles and my first-ever performance of Wagner’s “Tristan und Isolde” starring Jess Thomas and … Read more
My first weekend in November, 1967 began with Gunther Schuller’s “The Visitation” on Friday evening, and Gounod’s “Faust” (with Alfredo Kraus and Nicolai Ghiaurov) the next night [See Historical Review: Gounod’s “Faust” Starring Kraus, Ghiaurov, Saunders and Wixell – San Francisco Opera, November 4 and November 12, 1967]. The next day’s Sunday matinee was the … Read more
Since the year 2006, I have reviewed each of the opera productions mounted by the San Francisco Opera in the War Memorial Opera House, providing each with a letter grade. Like the seminars associated with Ph.D. programs, I do not grade “on a curve”, but, instead expect that a San Francisco Opera performance of any opera, like … Read more
I attended the second of eight San Francisco Opera performances in the world premiere run of Huang Ruo’s and David Henry Hwang’s opera “The Monkey King”. With this new work, San Francisco Opera continued its production of operas based on great Chinese classical literature. Nine years ago the first of these extraordinary operas, Bright Sheng’s … Read more
I attended the third of five scheduled San Francisco Opera performances of Matthew Ozawa’s handsome new produciton of Wagner’s “Parsifal”. The opera was beautifully sung, the singers accompanied by the brilliant sound of the San Francisco Opera Orchestra, led by the company’s Music Director, Maestra Eun Sun Kim. Brandon Jovanovich’s Parsifal [Photo: The naive, youthful … Read more
During San Francisco Opera’s 1967 Fall opera eason I had already seen eight of the 13 scheduled operas performed. In the first weekend of November, I had the attended the American premiere of Schuller’s “The Visitation” on Friday night. On the following Saturday night, I saw the season’s second of five performances of Gounod’s “Faust”. … Read more
On the 25th anniversary of its San Francisco Opera world premiere, Jake Heggie’s opera “Dead Man Walking” was presented again at the site of its first performance. The conductor of the world premiere, Maestro Patrick Summers, returned for the anniversary revival, as did mezzo-soprano Susan Graham who created the role of Sister Prejean in the … Read more
The San Francisco Opera’s music director, South Korean Maestra Eun Sun Kim, has committed to conducting one Verdi and one Wagner opera each San Francisco Opera season. This provides the company with an opportunity to give special attention to works of the two 19th century operatic geniuses. Verdi’s mid-19th century opera “Rigoletto” is the third … Read more
This review is of the third of four scheduled Santa Fe Opera performances of a Garsington Opera production of Britten’s “The Turn of the Screw” (now owned by the Canadian Opera Company). Jacquelyn Stucker’s Governess [Photo: Jacquelyn Stucker as the Governess; edited image, based on a Curtis Brown photograph, courtesy of the Santa Fe Opera.] … Read more
This review is of the fourth of seven Santa Fe Opera 2025 performances of the Julien Chavaz production of Verdi’s “Rigoletto”, a co-production with Irish National Opera (Dublin, Ireland) and Oper Zuid (Maastricht, Netherlands) Michael Chioldi’s Rigoletto [Phoro: Rigoletto (Michael Chioldi, center) is surrounded by the Duke of Mantua’s courtiers; edited image, based on a … Read more
The Santa Fe Opera revived Laurent Pelly’s 2021 production of Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro”. This review is of the fourth of nine performances of Mozart’s opera scheduled for the 2025 season. Ailyn Pérez’ Countess Almaviva [Photo:: Ailyn Pérez as the Countess Almaviva; edited image of a Ken Howard photograph for the Metropolitan Opera, courtesy … Read more
The first performance of “Die “Walküre” in Santa Fe Opera history took place on July 26, 2025. This is a review of the second of five scheduled performances of Santa Fe Opera’s 2025 season. Tamara Wilson’s Brünnhilde [Photo: Tamara Wilson as Brünnhilde; edited image, based on a Curtis Brown photograph, courtesy of the Santa Fe … Read more
The opening performance of the Santa Fe Opera’s 2025 season was a James Robinson’s co-production (with Seattle Opera, of which Robinson is General and Artistic Director) of Puccini’s “La Boheme”. This performance review is of the fifth of ten scheduled performances. Sylvia d’Eramo’s Mimi [Photo: Sylvia d’Eramo as Mimi; edited image, based on a Curtis … Read more