Reviews, appreciation and analysis of all things opera
William Burnett 
The following interview took place at the War Memorial Opera House, home of the San Francisco Opera, where René Barbera is scheduled to perform the role of Count Almaviva in Rossini’s “Il Barbiere di Siviglia”. The facilitation of this interview by the San Francisco Opera is deeply appreciated. [Below: Tenor René Barbera; resized image of a … Read more
The following interview of the great 20th century star of opera and musical theater took place on the ranch of the Santa Fe Opera, whose hosting is gratefully acknowledged: [Below: Soprano Reri Grist; edited image of a publicity photograph.] Wm: I ask each of the artists I interview about their earliest memories of music. … Read more
Tchaikovsky’s “Eugene Onegin”, the second offering of the Houston Grand Opera’s 2015-16 season, was presented in Canadian director Robert Carsen’s classic production, created for the New York Metropolitan opera and now owned by the Canadian Opera Company (Toronto). [Below: Eugene Onegin (Scott Hendricks, left) makes the acquaintance of Tatyana (Katie Van Kooten, right) at her country home; … Read more
Puccini’s “Tosca” opened the Houston Grand Opera’s 2015-16 season. I attended the third of six scheduled performances. The principal cast consisted of Ukrainian soprano Liudmyla Monastyrska in the title role, Siberian tenor Alexey Dolgov as Mario Cavaradossi, Polish tenor Andrzej Dobber as Baron Scarpia and Russian bass Dmitri Bellosselskiy as Cesare Angelotti. [Below: Liudmyla Monastyrska as Floria Tosca; … Read more
“Great Scott”, the highly anticipated collaboration of composer Jake Heggie and librettist Terrence McNally, is unlike anything else in the operatic repertory. A tour de force created for Kansas mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato, it is simultaneously a parody on the Rossini comic opera, an affectionate ribbing of the early 19th century Italian style of music-drama, a sentimental … Read more
The following interview took place on the “ranch” of the Santa Fe Opera, whose facilitation of this interview is deeply appreciated: [Below: Jay Hunter Morris; resized image, based on a Vii Tanner publicity photograph.] Wm: My first question asks your earliest memories of music. JHM: I grew up in Paris, Texas. Wm: There is a … Read more
In the final season of the tenure of its General Director David Gockley, the San Francisco Opera, revived one of the Gockley era successes, the Jun Kaneko production of Mozart’s fantasy opera, “The Magic Flute”. First unveiled in 2012 [see my reviews at Perfect Game: Gunn, Shagimuratova Shine in New Kaneko-Designed “Magic Flute” – San Francisco Opera, June 13, 2012 and A … Read more
The following interview took place at the War Memorial Opera House, with the much-appreciated facilitation of the San Francisco Opera. [Photo: Baritone Efraín Solís; resized image of a publicity photograph, courtesy of Efraín Solís.] Wm: Tell me, Efraín, about about your earliest memories of music. ES: I grew up in the Orange County California town … Read more
The San Francisco Opera mounted an illuminating new production of Donizetti’s “Lucia di Lammermoor”, staged by Canadian director Michael Cavanagh, with notably effective sets and projections by Washington scenic designer Erhard Rom. Nadine Sierra’s Lucia The production proved to be a triumph for Florida soprano Nadine Sierra, who had replaced an established star on short notice, … Read more
During 2015-16 I will be reviewing American operas by Adamo, Barber, Floyd, Getty, Heggie, Little, Sondheim and Ward in California, Texas and New York State. Moby Dick (Heggie), Los Angeles Opera, October 31, November 7, 15(m), 19, 22(m) and 28, 2015. Jay Hunter Morris is Captain Ahab and Morgan Smith is his first mate … Read more
“Tosca” and “Madama Butterfly” are two of the most performed operas in the United States. Below are four productions I am scheduled to review between the months of October 2015 and December 2016. Tosca (Puccini), Houston Grand Opera, October 23, 24, 31, November 3, 6 and 14, 2015. British director John Caird created his imposing production of Puccini’s “Tosca” … Read more
My review of the San Francisco Opera 2015-16 season opener [Review: Michael Fabiano’s Star Ascends in Verdi’s “Luisa Miller” – San Francisco Opera, September 11, 2015] praised the lead tenor, entire cast, conductor, orchestra and stage direction. One follows, when one can, the great operatic voices singing at their prime in live performance, so I made … Read more
Having reported on the two performances that introduced Lee Blakeley’s production of Sondheim’s “Sweeney Todd” first to Houston [Review: “Sweeney Todd” at Houston Grand Opera: Nathan Gunn, Director Lee Blakeley Make a Compelling Case for Sondheim as Opera, April 24, 2015] and then to San Francisco [Review: Searing Performances by Brian Mulligan and Stephanie Blythe for … Read more
This DVD review of Jerome Kern’s and Oscar Hammerstein’s “Show Boat” is the first of two reviews of productions of classic American musicals performed by the San Francisco Opera. Each DVD is of a production conceived and staged by director Francesca Zambello. For the review review of George Gershwin’s and Dubose Heyward’s “Porgy and Bess” see: … Read more
Lee Blakeley’s production of Sondheim’s “Sweeney Todd” is performed by the San Francisco Opera seven times during September, 2015. The following interview took place at the Santa Fe Opera, whose facilitation is deeply appreciated. [Photo: Director Lee Blakeley; resized image of a Roy Tan photograph, courtesy of Lee Blakeley.] Wm: Please relate how you came … Read more
The San Francisco Opera mounted Lee Blakeley’s mammoth production of Sondheim’s “Sweeney Todd” with New York baritone Brian Mulligan in the title role and New York mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe as Todd’s partner-in-crime, Mrs Lovett. Nothing surpasses the macabre merriment that exudes from a great “Sweeney” performance. Superb portrayals of Todd and Lovett by Mulligan and Blythe, … Read more
The San Francisco Opera opened its 2015-16 season with a rousing revival of Verdi’s “Luisa Miller”. Famously a “tenor’s opera”, it is unabashedly a vehicle for the brilliant lyric tenor voice of Michael Fabiano, a rapidly rising star on the world’s operatic stages. Only the third tenor to appear in San Francisco as the opera’s hero Rodolfo (his … Read more
There is much of interest for opera-goers in the 2015-16 seasons of the Houston Grand Opera and The Dallas Opera. Below are four productions I am scheduled to review between the months of October 2015 through March 2016. One is a world premiere, three are significant productions of major operas that tend to be mounted less often than they should … Read more
Wm: This post is part of a series of interviews on the impact of Young Artists programs, both on the career of opera singers and the opera companies that offer them. The interview took place at the Glimmerglass Festival, whose facilitation is greatly appreciated. [Below: Michael Heaston; resized image of a publicity photograph, courtesy of … Read more
The following interview took place in the administrative offices of the Santa Fe Opera, whose facilitation of this interview is deeply appreciated. Following the conversation, the Santa Fe Opera announced that it has commissioned its 15th world premiere for its 2017 season, Mason Bates’ opera “The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs” [Below: Santa Fe Opera General Director … Read more
The Seattle Opera has an established tradition of mounting opera productions in which the key principal roles are double cast. This permits the opera company to maximize the number of performances on Saturday evenings and Sunday matinees, when demand for tickets is at its strongest. For Verdi’s “Nabucco”, the Seattle Opera selected pairs of artists, … Read more
Until this evening, Seattle Opera had never performed Verdi’s first great success, “Nabucco”. It was mounted in an innovative new production that highlighted the opera’s musical wonders – vocal, choral and orchestral – while presenting the famously implausible plot in a reasonably effective way. Mary Elizabeth Williams’ Abigaille No company should present “Nabucco” without singers adept in the … Read more
Charles Frazier’s Pulitzer Prize award-winning novel Cold Mountain is focused on two persons, Confederate soldier W. P. Inman and his Charleston-born sweetheart, Ada Monroe, whose lives have been transformed completely by the devastation that the Civil War wrought upon the South. Composer Jennifer Higdon teamed with librettist Gene Scheer to create an opera out of Frazier’s sprawling work. … Read more
The Santa Fe Opera presented Richard Strauss’ “Salome” in an intense production by English director Daniel Slater. Alex Penda’s Salome [Photo: Alex Penda as Salome; edited image, based on a Ken Howard photograph, courtesy of the Santa Fe Opera.] The performance starred Bulgarian soprano Alex Penda. Her chilling portrayal plumbed the tenets of Freud’s revolutionary theories of … Read more
Santa Fe Opera’s new production of “La Finta Giardiniera” proved to be an effectively mounted and beautifully sung presentation of the 18-year old Mozart’s foray into romantic comic opera. Each aria is a masterpiece. Santa Fe Opera audiences were treated to a performance in which the seven principals were carefully chosen to excel in an opera of which the company intends … Read more