Reviews, appreciation and analysis of all things opera
Note from William: This post continues my series of observances of historic performances that I attended at San Francisco Opera during the general directorship of Kurt Herbert Adler. This is the fourth of six such observances of performances from the company’s 1961 Fall season. On the fourth night of my 1961 San Francisco Opera series … Read more
Note from William: This post continues my series of observances of historic performances that I attended at San Francisco Opera during the general directorship of Kurt Herbert Adler. This is the third of six such observances of performances from the company’s 1961 Fall season. Fifty years ago, as a Freshman in college with an Orchestra … Read more
The New Orleans Opera, performing in the spacious Mahalia Jackson Theater, presented Verdi’s “Un Ballo in Maschera”, utilizing G. Alan Ruznak’s sets that place the opera in mid-19th century New Orleans. The performance (the first of two) was a vehicle for native son Paul Groves’ role debut in the lead tenor part of Riccardo. Thoughts on … Read more
Note from William: This post continues my series of observances of historic performances that I attended at San Francisco Opera during the general directorship of Kurt Herbert Adler. This is the second of six such observances of performances from the company’s 1961 Fall season. As a college Freshman, who had been hooked on opera since … Read more
In 1868, the hottest ticket in Europe was the premiere of Charles Gounod’s “Roméo et Juliette”, at Paris’ Theatre Lyrique on the Seine’s East Bank (just a few hundred feet West from where the present Theatre du Chatelet is located). It was one of the most successful opening nights of any opera in history, with … Read more
Five years ago, Bizet’s “Carmen” was presented by San Francisco Opera, in the classic Jean-Pierre Ponnelle production (See my review at Halevy Triumphs in Ponnelle “Carmen” – S. F. December 3, 2006). Mezzo-soprano Kendall Gladen, then an Adler Fellow, the highest level of the San Francisco Opera Young Artists’ programs, was the Mercedes, the comprimario mezzo … Read more
Surfing the net the other day I stumbled on a bundle of pure anecdote heaven, the memoirs of Mr. Richard Temple Savage, the bass clarinet of London’s Covent Garden Opera back in the 30s-40s-50s. This charming book, titled A Voice from the Pit and originally published in 1988 — some of it was serialized in … Read more
Since I am on record as proposing that Sir Nicholas Hytner’s physical production of Handel’s “Xerxes” for London’s English National Opera be included on a list of “world treasures”, no one should be surprised at my high regard for San Francisco Opera’s presentation of Hytner’s conceptualization. I had reported last year on the production’s revival for … Read more
