Month: June 2014

Review: Stephen Lawless’ Creative New “Carmen” Production Opens 2014 Santa Fe Opera Season – June 27, 2014

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British Stage Director Stephen Lawless’ brilliantly conceived new production of “Carmen” was unveiled at Santa Fe Opera, with notable performances by Argentine mezzo-soprano Daniela Mack as Carmen, Italian tenor Roberto de Biasio as Don Jose, Lebanese soprano Joyce El-Khoury as Micaela, and Greek bass-baritone Kostas Smoriginas as Escamillo. The production’s most remarkable features were the arresting … Read more

Anticipated Operatic “Double Bills” in Santa Fe and Los Angeles – July-November, 2014

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This feature highlights selected performances of operas at the 2014 Santa Fe Opera Summer Festival and in Los Angeles that I am scheduled to review. This list is supplementary to previous lists in this “Quests and Anticipations” series of selected operas being performed from July, 2014 through February, 2015. These are Bizet’s “Carmen” in Santa Fe and … Read more

A Selection of Popular Puccini Opera Performances – July 2014-January 2015

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This feature highlights selected performances of the Puccini operas at the Glimmerglass Festival and the San Francisco and San Diego Operas I am scheduled to review. This list is supplementary to previous lists in this “Quests and Anticipations” series of selected operas being performed from July, 2014 through February, 2015. These are Bizet’s “Carmen” in Santa Fe … Read more

A Conversation with Lyric Tenor Saimir Pirgu

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The following conversation took place at the War Memorial Opera House in San Francisco. with the deeply appreciated facilitation of the San Francisco Opera.     [Photo: Lyric tenor Saimir Pirgu; edited image of a Fadil Berisha photograph, courtesy of Saimir Pirgu.] Wm: Saimir, this is my first opportunity to congratulate you on your Edgardo … Read more

Review: House of Puccini: Jun Kaneko’s Enchanting “Madama Butterfly” Soars at War Memorial – San Francisco Opera, June 15, 2014

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There are many elements that go into a successful operatic performance. An array of brilliant elements were present in the imaginative 2006 production of Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly”, not seen previously in San Francisco, in which cast, conductor, orchestra and chorus, production design and staging all contributed to bringing Puccini’s heartrending tale of delusion and culture clash to … Read more

Review: Luisotti Leads Triumphant “Traviata” Starring Cabell and Pirgu – San Francisco Opera, June 11, 2014

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The John Copley production of Verdi’s “La Traviata” with elegant sets by John Conklin returned to the War Memorial Opera House, after an absence of a decade. [Below: the John Conklin sets for Act I, set in Violetta’s Parisian apartments; edited image, based on a Cory Weaver photograph, courtesy of the San Francisco Opera.] The … Read more

A Conversation with Director-Designer John Pascoe, Part 1

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The following conversation began at the Park Hyatt in Milan, Italy. Wm: John, I’m grateful to begin what I hope will be a series of conversations with you.  [Below: John Pascoe; edited image of a photograph from www.johnpascoe.com.] Although I have been able to conduct interviews and conversations with many opera personalities, it’s most difficult to … Read more

Rising Stars: An Interview with Giuseppe Filianoti

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The following interview was conducted in the administrative offices of the San Diego Opera, whose facilitation of this interview is deeply appreciated.   [Below: Lyric tenor Giuseppe Filianoti; edited image, based on an Arielle Doneson portrait photograph, courtesy of giuseppefiianoti.com.] Wm: What were your earliest memories of music?  GF: I believe I was born with … Read more

Review: Aboard San Francisco Opera’s “Show Boat”: Showy Cast, Abundant Show-stoppers – June 1, 2014

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San Francisco became the fourth city – after Chicago, Houston and Washington D.C. – visited by the Francesca Zambello production of Jerome Kern’s 1927 blockbuster musical “Show Boat”. I had previously reported on its opening run at the in Chicago [see Team Zambello Shows off “Show Boat” to Chicago’s Lyric Opera – March 14, 2012]. Even … Read more