Month: September 2020

Historical Performances – Vickers is “Don Carlo” with Watson, Horne, Glossop and Tozzi – San Francisco Opera, October 1, 1966

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Note from William: This post continues my series of observances of historic performances that I attended at San Francisco Opera during the general directorship of Kurt Herbert Adler. This is the third of fourteen such observances of performances from the company’s 1966 Fall season. A week after the Saturday night subscription series performance of RIchard Strauss’ “Elektra”, … Read more

Insight and Spectacle: An Interview with Director Francisco Negrin

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The following interview was conducted with American director Francisco Negrin, whose productions of operas by Handel, Gluck and Massenet I reviewed for this website, but whose scheduled Fall 2020 productions of Verdi’s ‘Il Trovatore” at the Los Angeles Opera was postponed for a year and of Massenet’s “Werther” at the Houston Grand Opera was canceled, … Read more

Historical Performances – Deep Casting, Siercke’s Set Design, Result in A Brilliant “Elektra”, San Francisco Opera, September 24, 1966

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Note from William: This post continues my series of observances of historic performances that I attended at San Francisco Opera during the general directorship of Kurt Herbert Adler. This is the second of fourteen such observances of performances from the company’s 1966 Fall season. My second performance of the San Francisco Opera’s Fall 1966 season was … Read more

DVD Review: Francesca Zambello, the American Musical and the San Francisco Opera, Part 2: “Porgy and Bess”

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This is the second of two discussions of DVDs of productions of classic American musicals performed by the San Francisco Opera, following DVD Review: Francesca Zambello, the American Musical and the San Francisco Opera, Part I: “Show Boat”. Each DVD is of a production conceived and staged by director Francesca Zambello.\ David Gockley, San Francisco Opera’s … Read more