Reviews, appreciation and analysis of all things opera
Our guest commentator (and historian of the San Francisco Opera) Arthur Bloomfield writes: Time to review another of the protein-rich San Francisco Opera seasons from the final years of Kurt Herbert Adler’s long reign as the company’s all-seeing general director, that veritable eagle of Van Ness Avenue. Listening again to the 1979 broadcasts, where to begin? … Read more
The facilitation of this interview with Coloratura Soprano Sarah Coburn by the Los Angeles and Seattle Operas is gratefully acknowledged. ***** Wm: It might surprise the operatic world as to how many international opera stars hail from the U.S.A.’s Central Plains states. We know that Leona Mitchell discovered she had a voice as a young … Read more
There are two principal reasons why an opera company might invest in a new production of an opera never before seen in its community. The first is as a vehicle for displaying the talents of a particular artist. The second is the conviction that the repertory of that company should be expanded to include that … Read more