Since the year 2006, I have reviewed each of the opera productions mounted by the San Francisco Opera in the War Memorial Opera House, providing each with a letter grade.
Like the seminars associated with Ph.D. programs, I do not grade “on a curve”, but, instead expect that a San Francisco Opera performance of any opera, like a seminar grade for a doctoral student, should be an “A”. In those cases in which I believe the performance was of more than routine interest (and excellence) I give an A+. In previous calendar years, I have given grades as low as a “C”, but in the most recent years, “B” and “C” grades have been rare.
(I do not use the performance review to discuss whether the company’s management should have chosen a different opera, different director, or different cast, but review whatever opera performances the company has chosen to present.)
Grade A+
Innocence (Saariaho)
The late Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho’s opera “Innocence” is an extraordinary exposition of a community’s complex reactions to a school shooting. The violent act, itself an extreme reaction of a student to bullying by other students, resulted in the shunning of the shooter’s family from the larger community.
[Photo: Students who have survived a school shooting are apprehensive about their surroundings; edited image, based on a Cory Weaver photograph, courtesy of the San Francisco Opera.]
Years later, the shooter’s family arranges a wedding party for the shooter’s younger brother. Catering the wedding party is the mother of one of the victims, played by Romanian mezzo-soprano Ruxandra Donose in her first San Francisco Opera performance in 22 years.
Other principal singers include Michigan tenor Myles Mykkannen as the bridegroom Tuomas, Iranian soprano Lillian Farahani as the bride Stela. baritone Rod Gilfry and Canadian soprano Claire de Sévigné as the shooter’s parents amd Icelandic bass-baritone Kristinn Sigmundsson as the Priest.
[For my performance review, see: American Premiere Review: Saariaho’s and Oksanen’s “Innocence”- a Milestone in the Dramatic Possibilities of Operatic Performance – San Francisco Opera, June 1, 2024.
Grade A+
Partenope (Handel)
Director Christopher Alden’s production of Handel’s “Partenope”, first seen at San Francisco Opera in 2014, was revived a decade later. Of the opera’s six characters, four, Julie Fuchs as Partenope, Carlo VIstoli as Arsace, Nicholas Tamagna as Armindo and Hadleigh Adams as Ormonte were new tp their roles. Two, Daniela Mack and Alek Shrader repeated their 2014 roles of respectively, Rosmira and Emilio. The interactions of these characters in their pursuit of love and political power provide the opportunity for a wealth of Handel’s luxurious vocal music.
[Photo: Julie Fuchs as Partenope; edited image, based on a Cory Weaver photograph, courtesy of the San Francisco Opera.]
Queen Partenope is the legendary founder of the Italian city of Napoli, although the opera’s plot has no revelance to Neapolitan history. Alden has moved the action to the 1920s Paris and the salon of steamship heiress Nancy Cunard, who promoted avant-garde movements in art, photography and literature.
[For my performance review, see: Review: A Brilliant Production and Strong Performance of Handel’s “Partenope” – San Francisco Opera, June 23, 2024.]
Grade A+
Un Ballo in Maschera (Verdi)
New Jersey tenor Michael Fabiano, Armenian soprano Lianna Haroutounian and Mongolian baritone Amartuvshin Enkhbat, performing respectively the roles of King Gustavus, Amelia and Renato, led a vocally strong cast in Leo Muscato’s prdocution of Verdi’s “Ballo in Maschera”. Chinese soprano Mei Gui Zhang’s Oscar and Romanian mezzo-soprano Judit Kutasi’s Ulrica were also impactful.
[Photo:: In costume for the masquerade ball are Gustavus (Michael Fabiano, center left) and Amelia (Lianna Haroutounian, center right); edited image, based on a Cory Wadver photograph, courtesy of the San Francisco Opera.]
Under Maestra EUn Sun Kim’s leadership, the San Francisco Opera performed brilliantly. The sets by Federica Parolini, costumes by Alessandro Verrazzi and choreography by Dance Master Colm Seery made this a memorable “Masked Ball”.
[For my performance review, see: Review: Michael Fabiano, Lianna Haroutounian Lead a Beautifully Performed, Intelligently Directed “Ballo in Maschera” – San Francisco Opera, September 15, 2024.]
Grade A+
Tristan und Isolde (Wagner)
Scottish-born California director Paul Curran is the creative force behind several of my favorite operatic productions. His revival of his Venetian production of Wagner’s “Tristan und Isolde” was the occasion of Curran’s San Francisco Opera debut.
[Photo: Siimon O’Neill as Tristan and Anja Kampe as Isolde in Wagner’s “Tristan und Isolde”; edited image, based on a Cory Weaver photograph, courtesy of the San Francisco Opera.]
The Tristan, New Zealand tenor Simon O’Neill, has a solid claim to being San Francisco Opera’s leading heldentenor. He was joined by German soprano Anja Kampe, returning to San Francisco in fine voice after an absence of over a decade.
Others contributing to an outstanding performance were the Brangäne (German mezzo-soprano Annika Schlicht) Kurwenal (German baritone Wolfgang Koch) and Marke (South Korean bass Kwangchul Yuon), as well as the San Francisco Opera Orchestra and Chorus, conducted by Maestra Eun Sun Kim.
[For my performance review, see: Review: ONeill and Kampe Lead a Powerfully Performed “Tristan und Isolde” – San Francisco Opera, October 27, 2024
Grade A+
Carmen (Bizet)
Francesca Zambello’s famous production of Bizet’s “Carmen”, first performed at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in 2006, and first seen at the San Francisco Opera in 2019, returned for a second mounting to sold out performances throughout its run.
Swiss mezzo-soprano Eve-Maud Hubeaux was Carmen, Pennsylvanian Jonathan Tetelman was Don Jose, New York baritone Christian Van Horn was Escamillo and British soprano Louise Alder was Micaela.
[Photo: Jonathan Tetelman (left) as Don Jose and Eve-Maud Hubeaux (right) as Carmen in Bizet’s “Carmen”; eidteid image, based on a Cory Weaver photograph, courtesy of the San Francisco Opera.]
My review praised the vocal and histrionic performances of the principal cast as well as the staging of their interaction with the choristers and cxomprimario performers.
The production of “Carmen” was the occasion for the San Francisco Opera debut of Maestro Benjamin Manis .
[For my performance review, see: Streamed Performance Review: A Splendidly Sung and Well Acted “Carmen” – San Francisco Opera, November 19, 2024.]
Grade A
The Magic Flute (Mozart)
This is the fourth performance review of Barrie Kosky’s production of “The Magic Flute” that I have posted on www.operawarhorses.com. Previously, I have described Barrie Kosky’s “silent screen” production of Mozart’s “The Magic FLute” as “outrageously inventive”, and have praised the performers who must master a complex and very precise physical production, while demonstrating vocal mastery of Mozart’s demanding music.
[Below: Director Barrie Kosky’s “silent screen” image of the Queen of the Night and her retinue in Mozart’s “The Magic Flute”; edited image, based on a Cory Weaver photograph, courtesy of the San Francisco Opera.]
The cast proved themselves accomplished Mozarteans: Amitai Pati’s Tamino, Christina Gansch’s Pamina; Lauri Vasar’s Papageno, Anna Siminska’s Queen of the Night, Kwangchul Yuon’s Sarastro and Zhengyi Bai’s Monostatos met the demands of Mozart’s challenging vocal demands.
[For my performance review, see: Review: Barrie Kosky’s Production of Mozart’s “The Magic Flute” – San Francisco Opera, June 2, 2024.]
Grade A
The Handmaid’s Tale (Ruders)
In 2000, the Royal Danish Opera of Copenhagen performed the world premiere of Poul Ruders’ opera “The Handmaid’s Tale”, based on Margaret Attwood’s novel of the same name. Two decades later, a co-commission of the Royal Danish Opera and San Francisco Opera mounted a new production of a revised version of Ruders’ opera. That production premiered in Copenhagen in 2022. The performance I reviewed was the new production’s opening San Francisco Opera performance.
[Photo: Irene Roberts as Offred in Ruders’ “The Handmaid’s Tale”; edited image, based on a Cory Weaver photograph, courtesy of the San Francisco Opera.]
The opera concerns a nation that has been taken over by a fundamentalist religious organization. Renamed thd Republic of Gilead, the reconstituted nation strictly governs the child-bearing functions of the population it controls, including making all decisions the sexual activities of women of child-bearing age. Women in the latter group, trained as “handmaids”, are assigned to a succession of male heads of families, until she is impregnated by a family’s head male and delivers a child. If the handmaid fails to be impregnated during three successive assignments, she is relegated to dangerous environmental tasks.
Mezzo-soprano Irene Roberts led the large cast as the handmaid Offred (whose name comes from her first assignment of being the handmaid “of Fred”). The cast includes Christopher Ogelsby as Offred’s original husband, with whom Offred tried to escape from the newly established Gilead. Other principals include Sarah Cambidge as “Aunt Lydia” the head of a handmaid indoctrination center, John Relyea as the Commander, who is Offred’s second handmaid assignment, Lindsay Ammann as Serena Joy, the Commander’s wife, and Brenton Ryan as Nick, who, contrary to Gilead’s dictates, seeks to impregnate Offred in place of the Commander.
Maestra Karen Kamensek conducted the San Francisco Opera Orchestra and Chorus. John Fulljames directed. The sets were by Chloe Lamford; the costumes by Christina Cunningham.
Ironically, the San Francisco Opera performances took place during the campaign period before a presidential election, in which governmental controls over women’s reproductive rights was a campaign issue dividing the candidates.
[For my performance review, see: Review: A Cautionary “Handmaid’s Tale” , San Francisco Opera, September 14, 2024.]
For my performance grades of San Francisco Opera seasons beween 2006 and 2023, see:
Grading San Francisco Opera Performances for Calendar Year 2023
Grading San Francisco Opera Performances for Calendar Year 2022
Grading San Francisco Opera Performances for Calendar Years 2020 and 2021
Grading San Francisco Opera Performances for Calendar Year 2019,
Grading San Francisco Opera Performances for Calendar Year 2018,
Grading San Francisco Opera Performances for Calendar Year 2017,
Grading San Francisco Opera Performances for Calendar Year 2016.
Grading San Francisco Opera Performances for Calendar Year 2015,
Grading San Francisco Opera Productions for Calendar Year 2014,
Grading San Francisco Opera’s Productions Of Calendar Year 2013,
Grading San Francisco Opera’s Productions Of Calendar Year 2012,
San Francisco Opera’s Calendar Year 2011 – Another Year of High Caliber Performances,
San Francisco Opera’s Calendar Year 2010 – Straight “A” Average Trending Higher
Grading Gockley’s San Francisco Opera 2009: Another Straight A Average,
Gockley’s San Francisco Opera in 2008 – A Straight “A” Average,
Gockley’s San Francisco Opera in 2007 – Improving Already High Grades,
Grading David Gockley’s First Year at San Francisco Opera