Reviews, appreciation and analysis of all things opera
In the past 12 months, two of California’s opera companies each presented new productions of Wagner’s “Tannhäuser”. Each production was based on radical story line re-conceptualizations by controversial theatrical innovators Ian Judge (Los Angeles Opera) and Graham Vick (San Francisco Opera). To open its 2008 season, the San Diego Opera revealed a production that was … Read more
Conductor James Conlon led the Los Angeles Opera Orchestra in a passionate reading of Wagner’s masterwork, “Tristan und Isolde”. This was the third time that David Hockney’s colorful production (1987) of the great Romantic music drama was presented at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, the L. A. Opera’s home. It was also seen in October 2006 … Read more
California’s three major opera companies are each mounting a Wagner work in the first half of 2008. Two of the companies, the Los Angeles and San Diego Operas, most likely by coincidence, are offering their Wagner productions simultaneously. Except for some performances of “Fliegende Hollaender” in venues of various sizes, the only scheduled performances of … Read more