Month: September 2016

Review: Yonghoon Lee is an Eloquent Andrea Chénier in McVicar’s Cinematic Staging – San Francisco Opera, September 9, 2016

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The San Francisco Opera opened its 2016-17 season with an elegant production of the verismo classic, Giordano’s “Andrea Chénier”, about the trajectory of three lives during the events of the French Revolution. The occasion was the North American unveiling of Sir David McVicar’s eye-catching staging, a co-production of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, the San Francisco Opera and … Read more

A Champion of Opera and American Song: An Interview with Stephanie Blythe

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This interview of Stephanie Blythe took place in her dressing room, preparing for the final dress rehearsal of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Carousel” at the Houston Grand Opera, whose facilitation of this interview is deeply appreciated.    [Below: Mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe; edited image, based on a publicity photograph from stephanieblythemezzo.com] Wm: Let me begin this interview with my … Read more

Six or so Reasons to Experience “Andrea Chénier” at San Francisco’s War Memorial Opera House

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The San Francisco Opera’s 2016-17 season is filled with delights. For me, the highlights include the world premiere of an opera based on the supreme achievement of classical Chinese literature, The Dream of the Red Chamber and a new Francesca Zambello production of Verdi’s “Aida”. It also includes the return of Puccini’s “La Boheme” in 2017, the opera … Read more