Month: June 2018

The second complete cycle of Wagner’s four opera “Ring of the Nibelung” ended with a superlative performance of “Götterdämmerung”, conducted by Maestro Donald Runnicles and starring Swedish soprano Iréne Theorin as Brünnhilde and Wisconsin heldentenor Daniel Brenna as Siegfried. Iréne Theorin’s Brünnhilde Brünnhilde is among the most challenging roles in the operatic repertory. It weaves through the final … Read more

San Francisco Opera’s revival of Francesca Zambello’s production of Wagner’s “Ring of the Nibelung”, continued with the third opera, “Siegfried”. Six of the opera’s eight characters  (and the artists singing those roles) had been introduced in the preceding “Ring” operas. The evening’s newcomers were the cocky, fearless mortal, Siegfried and his avian friend, the Forest … Read more

The San Francisco Opera’s presentation of Francesca Zambello’s production of Wagner’s “Ring of the Nibelungs” continued with “Die Walküre”, the second of the four-opera cycle. This review will concentrate on this season’s cast, as this is my fifth time reviewing the Zambello “Walküre”. Most of my observations and commentaries on the production contained in the previous … Read more

June 2018 marks the San Francisco Opera revival of Francesca Zambello’s ambitious retelling of Wagner’s four opera “Ring of the Nibelungs”. Last seen in San Francisco in  2011, the “Ring” returns in three cycles, each over six days. I am reporting on the second of this year’s cycles. This is my fourth Zambello “Rheingold” review in … Read more