Reviews, appreciation and analysis of all things opera
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
The following is a list of four opera performances that I am scheduled to review at the Santa Fe Opera and the San Francisco Opera in July through June of 2026. Die Walküre (Wagner) Santa Fe Opera, July 26, 30, August 8, 13 and 21, 2025 [Photo: Tamara Wilson (left) is Bruünnhilde and Ryan Speedo … Read more
This review continues my discussion of the San Francisco Opera’s 2025 revival of John Caird’s production of Puccini’s “La Boheme” posted at Review: A Superbly Performed “Boheme”, Starring Pene Pati, Karen Chia-Ling Ho, Andrea Carroll and Lucas Meachem – San Francisco Opera, June 15, 2025.. This review discusses the performances of three alternate cast members … Read more
The last production of San Francisco Opera’s 2024-25 season to open was Mozart’s “Idomeneo” The earliest of Mozart’s seven most important operas, it dates from 1781 when Mozart was not quite 25 years old. Matthew Polenzani’s Idomeneo The opera takes place in the aftermath of the Trojan War on the Island of Crete. The Kingdom … Read more
For the Spring 2025 weeks of its 2024-25 season, the San Francisco Opera scheduled nine performances of Puccini’s “La Boheme”. For six of those performances the lead roles of Mimi, Rodolfo, Musetta and Marcello were to be sung by four artists designated as the “first cast”. Four other artists were scheduled to alternate those four … Read more
A Weekend of Schuller’s “The Visitation” and Donizetti’s “L’Elisir d’Amore” During a three-day mid-October 1967 weekend in San Francisco, I experienced my first ever performances of Charpentier’s “Louise” and Puccini’s “Manon Lescaut”, followed by a stellar performance of “Der Rosenkavalier”. Two weeks later, I returned for a Saturday evening-Sunday matinee weekend consisting of the American … Read more
The following is a list of the first four of five performances that I am scheduled to review at the Santa Fe Opera in Summer, 2025: La Boheme (Puccini), Santa Fe Opera, June 27, July 2, 5, 11, 18, 28, August 2, 6, 14, 19 and 23, 2025. A production of Puccini’s most popullar opera, … Read more
The following is a list of performances that I am scheduled to review at the San Francisco Opera in June and September of 2025: La Boheme (Puccini), San Francisco Opera, June 3, 7, 10, 12, 13, 15(m), 18, 19 and 21, 2025 English director John Caird’s production of Puccini’s most popular opera is a co-production … Read more
A San Francisco Opera Sunday matinee performance of Richard Strauss’ “Der Rosenkavalier” marked my third visit to the War Memorial Opera House in three days. On Friday night I attended my first performance ever of Charpentier’s “Louise” [Maestro Jean Périsson Leads Arlene Saunders, John Alexander, Nicola Rossi-Lemeni and Sona Cervena in Impressive Performance of Charpentier’s … Read more
The evening after my very first ever live performance of Charpentier’s “Louise” in a San Francisco Opera performance at the War Memorial Opera House [Maestro Jean Périsson Leads Arlene Saunders, John Alexander, Nicola Rossi-Lemeni and Sona Cervena in Impressive Performance of Charpentier’s “Louise” – San Francisco Opera, October 13, 1967], I returned for my first … 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
The opera “Carmen” is the world’s most popular French opera. Tchaikovsky called it “the perfect opera”. For San Francisco Opera, the eight performances it scheduled in the 3000+ seat War Memorial Opera House have been sold out for virtually every performance. The San Francisco Opera’s “Carmen” run, using New York director Francesca Zambello’s well-traveled production, … Read more