I am scheduled to travel to San Francisco, Los Angeles, Dallas and Houston to review the following operas by Ludwig von Beethoven and Richard Wagner between September 2020 and January , 2021.
[The entire Fall, 2020 San Francisco Opera season was canceled due to the Covid19 pandemic.]
Fidelio (Beethoven), San Francisco Opera, September 12, 15, 18, 23, 27 and October 3, 2020.
Elza van den Heever returns to the San Francisco Opera as Leonore (Fidelio), with Simon O’Neill as Florestan, Falk Struckmann as Don Pizarro, Eric Owens as Rocco and Alfred Walker as Don Fernando.
[Below: Elza van den Heever (right) is Leonore/Fidelio to the Florestan of Paul Groves (left); edited images, based on a publicity photograph from the 2016 Caramoor Festival.]
Maestra Eun Sun Kim conducts. Matthew Ozawa directs. The sets are by Alexander V. Nichols, the costumes by Jessica Jahn.
[The opera was rescheduled for the San Francisco Opera 2021-22 season.]
[The entire Fall, 2020 Los Angeles Opera season was canceled due to the Covid19 pandemic.]
Tannhäuser (Wagner), Los Angeles Opera, October 17, 25(m), 29, November 1(m), 4 and 7, 2020.
Issachah Savage is Tannhäuser, Yulia Matochkina is Venus, John Relyea is Hermann, Lucas Meachem is Wolfram and Philip Cokerinos is Reinmar von Zweiter.
[Below: In the Venusberg, the goddess Venus’ followers (the Los Angeles Opera Ballet) enjoy sensual pleasures; edited image, based on a production photograph, courtesy of the Los Angeles Opera.]
Maestro James Conlon conducts. Maestro Grant Gershon is Chorus Master. Louisa Muller directs the production originally created by Ian Judge. The scenery and costumes are by Gottfried Pilz.
[For my review of a 2007 performance of the Ian Judge production, see: Powerful, Edgy “Tannhäuser” at Los Angeles Opera – February 28, 2007.]
[The opera was rescheduled for the Los Angeles Opera’s 2021-22 season.]
[The entire Fall 2020 season of The Dallas Opera was canceled due to the Covid19 pandemic.]
Lohengrin (Wagner), The Dallas Opera, October 30, November 1(m), 4 and 7, 2020
Gwyn Hughes Jones is Lohengrin, Anne Schwanewilms is Elsa, Mark Delavan is Telramud and Catherine Martin is Ortrud. Stefan Kocan is King Henry.
[Below: an historical image of a “Lohengrin” scene used in promotional materials of the Louis Desire production of the opera in Sao Paolo, Brazil.]
Maestro Emmanuel Villaume conducts. Louis Desire directs. Alexander Rom is chorus master, Krista Billings is lighting designer.
[The Houston Grand Opera Fall 2020 and Winter 2021 seasons of the Houston Grand Opera were canceled due to the Covid19 pandemic.]
Parsifal (Wagner), Houston Grand Opera, February 22, 27, 30, May 4 and 7(m), 2021.
Russell Thomas is Parsifal, Christine Goerke is Kundry, Ryan McKinny is Amfortas. Kwangchui Youn is Gurnemanz, Andreas Silvestrelli is Klingsor and Andre Courville is Titurel.
Maestro Patrick Summers conducts, John Caird directs. The sets and costumes were originally designed by the late Johan Engels. Duane Schuler is lighting designe. Tim Claydon is choreographer.
[Below: Johan Engels’ sets and costumes for the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s production of “Parsifal”; edited image, based on a production photograph for the Lyric Opera of Chicago]
This list is supplementary to previous lists in this “Quests and Anticipations” series of selected operas being performed through August, 2020:
Wagner’s “Das Rheingold”, “Die Walküre”, “Siegfried” and “Götterdämmerung” at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. [see In Quest of Sir David Pountney’s Production of the “Ring of the Nibelungs”- Lyric Opera of Chicago, April 2020.]
Donizetti’s “L’Elisir d’Amore at the Sarasota Opera and Verdi’s “Ernani” at the San Francisco Opera. [See In Quest of Donizetti and Early Verdi (January-July, 2020)]
Rodgers’ and Hammestein’s “The Sound of Music” at the Glimmerglass Festival. [See In Quest of Intriguing Opera Productions – September, 2019-August, 2020]
Wagner’s “Die Feen” at the Glimmerglass Festival and Wagner’s “Tristan und Isolde” and Dvorak’s “Rusalka” at the Santa Fe Opera. See [In Quest of Operas Based on Myths and Fairy Tales – November 2019 – August 2020]
Bates’ “The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs” at the San Francisco Opera; and Ruo’s “M. Butterfly” at the Santa Fe Opera. [See In Quest of 21st Century Operas, August 2019-August 2020]
Gounod’s “Romeo et Juliette” at the Sarasota Opera, and Debussy’s “Pelleas et Melisande” at the Los Angeles Opera. [See In Quest of French Operatic Masterpieces – June, 2019-May 2020.]
Puccini’s “La Boheme” and Catalani’s “La Wally” at the Sarasota Opera. [See In Quest of 1890s Italian Verismo Operas – September 2019 – March 2020.]
Handel’s “Partenope” at the San Francisco Opera [See In Quest of Handel Operas – June 2019-July 2020.]