Month: September 2018

A Second Look Review: San Francisco Opera’s Superb “Roberto Devereux” – September 23, 2018

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Earlier this month, I reviewed the opening performance of San Francisco Opera’s mounting of the Stephen Lawless production of Donizetti’s “Roberto Devereux” [Review: World’s Best Ever “Roberto Devereux” Performance: Radvanovsky, Thomas, Barton, Frizza – San Francisco Opera, September 8, 2018]. In that review, I suggested that the four principals (Illinois soprano Sondra Radvanovsky, Florida tenor Russell … Read more

A Second Look Review: San Francisco Opera’s “Pagliacci” – September 16, 2018

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This is my fourth review posting associated with the San Francisco Opera’s September 2018 mounting of the Jose Cura production of Mascagni’s “Cavalleria Rusticana” and Leoncavallo’s “Pagliacci”. The operas were presented together as a double bill, as they often are, but were staged in a nontraditional manner. For the previous reviews and their discussion of … Read more

Rising Stars: An Interview with Jarrett Ott

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The following interview was conducted on the Santa Fe Opera “ranch” with the much-appreciated facilitation of the Santa Fe Opera:   [Below: Baritone Jarrett Ott; edited image, based on a publicity photograph, from jarrettott.com.] Wm: My first question to most artists I interview asks about their earliest memories of music, and their first memories of … Read more

A Second Look Review: San Francisco Opera’s “Cavalleria Rusticana” – September 16, 2018

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I reviewed San Francisco Opera’s 2018-19 season opening night performance of Jose Cura’s fascinating production of ‘s “Cavalleria Rusticana” on a double bill with Cura’s production of Leoncavallo’s “I Pagliacci” [see Review, Part I: San Francisco Opera Season Opening “Cavalleria Rusticana/Pagliacci”, Nicely Sung, Brilliantly Staged, September 7, 2018.] I discussed the musical performance of the cast, … Read more

Historical Performances: San Francisco Spring Opera’s “Lucia di Lammermoor” – May 31, 1966

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Note from William: This post continues my series of observances of performances that I attended at San Francisco Opera during the general directorship of Kurt Herbert Adler. This is the second of five such observances of performances from the company’s 1966 Spring Opera Theater season. The second evening on my 1966 SPOT subscription was Donizetti’s … Read more