William Burnett

For the first time in the 21st century, the San Francisco Opera presented “Manon”, the most popular of the operas of 19th century French composer Jules Massenet. The performance was the occasion of the role debuts of Minnesota soprano Ellie Dehn as Manon Lescaut and New Jersey tenor Michael Fabiano as Manon’s lover, the Chevalier … Read more

The Houston Grand Opera’s 2017-18 season opening night opera was a revival of Arin Arbus’ production of Verdi’s “La Traviata”. The performance I attended took place eight days later. In the aftermath of August’s devastating Hurricane Harvey, the Houston Grand Opera, forced to move out of it Wortham Center home for several months, created a … Read more

The Houston Grand Opera revived its 2003 James Robinson production of Handel’s “Julius Caesar”. The production presents Handel’s best known opera – whose story is roughly based on historical events of the first century B.C. – as a company of film actors preparing a 1930s Hollywood cinema spectacular. Robinson’s inventive evocation of 1930s Hollywood is obviously … Read more

The Dallas Opera, whose conducting staff is led by its French-born Music Director Emmanuel Villaume, chose Camille Saint-Saëns’ “Samson et Dalila” from the heart of the Romantic French operatic repertory, as the opera to open its 61st season. [Photo: Dalila (Olga Borodina, right) is determined to seduce Samson (Clifton Forbis, left) as part of an … Read more

The Los Angeles Opera mounted Peggy Woolcock’s production of Bizet’s “The Pearl Fishers” with a cast of international caliber, conducted by Maestro Plácido Domingo. [Below: A pearl fisher dives for pearls in the Los Angeles Opera’s 2017 performances of Bizet’s “The Pearl Fishers”; edited image, based on a Ken Howard photograph, courtesy of the Los Angeles … Read more

The Los Angeles Opera mounted the imaginative Thaddeus Strassberger production of Verdi’s “Nabucco” . Plácido Domingo’s Nabucco The Nabucco was sung by one of the most important dramatic tenors in operatic history, Plácido Domingo. In his later career, Domingo continues to make his mark on the operatic baritone repertory. I found the 76-year old Domingo’s performance … Read more

For its Fall 2017 season, San Francisco Opera has divided twelve performances of Puccini’s “Turandot” into two casts, the first performing six times during September and the second in late November and early December. This season, I reviewed the first cast on the season’s opening night [Review: San Francisco Opera’s “Turandot” – Sonic Splendor, Visual … Read more

The final opera to be conducted by Maestro Nicola Luisotti during his nine-season tenure as Music Director of the San Francisco Opera is Verdi’s “La Traviata”. The opera, presented in British Director John Copley’s classic 1987 production, was the occasion for the San Francisco Opera debuts of Aurelia Florian, the Violetta; Atalla Ayan, the Alfredo; … Read more

The San Francisco Opera mounted a magnificently sung performance of Richard Strauss’ “Elektra”, with an augmented 95-member San Francisco Opera Orchestra, led by Hungarian Maestro Henrik Nánási. British Director Keith Warner’s accessible and eye-catching production – a San Francisco Opera co-production with the Prague National Opera (where it debuted last year) – set the opera … Read more

San Francisco Opera has presented David Hockney’s enchanting realization of Puccini’s “Turandot” for five of its seasons since it debuted at the War Memorial Opera House, under Hockney’s direct supervision, in 1993. The vibrant colors of Hockney’s sets and of Ian Falconer’s exotic costumes exude splendor. A co-production with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the … Read more

The Santa Fe Opera mounted a revised edition of New York director David Alden’s celebrated Opéra National de Bordeaux production of Handel’s “Alcina”, with three members of the Bordeaux cast – Elza van den Heever, Anna Christy and Alek Shrader – repeating their roles in Santa Fe. It was the first time Handel’s opera about the … Read more

Santa Fe Opera mounted Rimsky-Korsakov’s exotic opera “The Golden Cockerel [Le Coq d’Or]” British Director Paul Curran partnered with Irish Set and Costume Designer Gary McCann and New York Projections Designer Driscoll Otto to create an eye-pleasing, humor-filled production, but one whose dark symbolism foretells the destruction of an autocratic monarchy. Venera Gimadieva’s Queen of … Read more

Composer Mason Bates and librettist Mark Campbell were commissioned by the Santa Fe Opera to write an opera about Apple, Inc’s  Steve Jobs. This was Bates’ first opera. [For my review of an opera with a Campbell libretto, see Pictures at an Exhibition: John Musto’s Opera “Later the Same Evening” Brings Edward Hopper’s Art to Life: … Read more

The 2017 Glimmerglass Festival has taken on a challenging project, breathing life into a 181-year old Donizetti opera that had virtually disappeared from performance in Europe and had never been performed in the United States. A young cast proves their skills in singing Donizetti’s well-crafted score. Francesca Zambello, the Festival’s artistic and general director, demonstrates … Read more