Reviews, appreciation and analysis of all things opera
Conductor Nicola Luisotti, who serves as the Music Director of both the San Francisco Opera and the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, Italy, became the central figure in a remarkable event that has both musical and cultural significance. He conducted a performance of Verdi’s “Requiem” at San Francisco’s War Memorial Opera House, in which … Read more
RIchard Wagner’s “Flying Dutchman” with its relatively small cast and minimal set requirements has been a popular choice of opera managements as the vehicle for observing the 200th anniversary of the German composer’s birth-year. San Francisco Opera unveiled a new production of Wagner’s “Flying Dutchman” that incorporates multicolored projected visual images of the ocean, ghost world … Read more
Having reviewed the San Francisco Opera season’s first night of Verdi’s “Falstaff”, [Bryn Terfel Triumphs in an Authoritative “Falstaff” – San Francisco Opera, October 9, 2013] I returned for the fourth of the scheduled eight performances. This second review gives an opportunity to highlight many of the admirable details of the production that I had … Read more
The following interview took place on the “Ranch” of the Santa Fe Opera, whose facilitation of this interview is gratefully acknowledged. [Below: Basso Kevin Burdette; promotional photograph, courtesy of Kevin Burdette.] Wm: What were your earliest experiences with vocal music? With opera? KB: I am youngest of five children, the baby. I was brought up … Read more
In previous posts in the Quests and Anticipations series, I have separated the operas of Donizetti from those of two composers often associated with him, Rossini and Bellini, arguing, mostly recently at Coast to Coast Selections of Donizetti and Early Verdi Opera Performances that he more logically should be considered with the early works of Verdi, a close friend … Read more