William Burnett

This review continues my discussion of the San Francisco Opera’s 2025 revival of John Caird’s production of Puccini’s “La Boheme” posted at Review: A Superbly Performed “Boheme”, Starring Pene Pati, Karen Chia-Ling Ho, Andrea Carroll and Lucas Meachem – San Francisco Opera, June 15, 2025.. This review discusses the performances of three alternate cast members … Read more

The last production of San Francisco Opera’s 2024-25 season to open was Mozart’s “Idomeneo” The earliest of Mozart’s seven most important operas, it dates from 1781 when Mozart was not quite 25 years old. Matthew Polenzani’s Idomeneo The opera takes place in the aftermath of the Trojan War on the Island of Crete. The Kingdom … Read more

For the Spring 2025 weeks of its 2024-25 season, the San Francisco Opera scheduled nine performances of Puccini’s “La Boheme”. For six of those performances the lead roles of Mimi, Rodolfo, Musetta and Marcello were to be sung by four artists designated as the “first cast”. Four other artists were scheduled to alternate those four … Read more

The opera “Carmen” is the world’s most popular French opera. Tchaikovsky called it “the perfect opera”. For San Francisco Opera, the eight performances it scheduled in the 3000+ seat War Memorial Opera House have been sold out for virtually every performance. The San Francisco Opera’s “Carmen” run, using New York director Francesca Zambello’s well-traveled production, … Read more

In an unprecedented evening in San Francisco Opera history, instead of an operatic performance, the San Francisco Opera scheduled a performance of Ludwig von Beethoven’s Symphony Number Nine. The sold-out performance celebrated the 200th anniversary year of the Ninth Symphony’s first performance in May, 1824. “The Ninth” is an epochal contribution to the format of … Read more

I was present at the third of five performances of San Francisco Opera’s presentation of Paul Curran’s production of Wagner’s “Tristan und Isolde”. The production, created in 2012 for the Teatro La Fenice in Venice, incorporated some minor modifications for its presentation in San Francisco. The opera was presented without cuts. Simon O’Neill’s Tristan and … Read more

In a three and a half month period in mid-2024, the San Francisco Opera presented two contemporary operas from two Nordic countries – Finland and Denmark. One performance was the late composer Kiaja Saariaho’s 2019 opera “Innocence [American Premiere Review: Saariaho’s and Oksanen’s “Innocence”- a Milestone in the Dramatic Possibilities of Operatic Performance – San … Read more

This performance review discusses the third of seven performances of San Francisco Opera’s mounting of Giuseppe Verdi’s middle-period opera of 1859, “Un Ballo in Maschera”. The opera, which opened the company’s 2024-25 season, its 102nd, was staged by Italian director Leo Muscato, in an insightful production. Director Leo Muscato’s Staging of Verdi’s “Ballo in Maschera” … Read more

Virtually every opera ever composed since the art form was invented 420+ years ago failed to make the international performance repertory – those operas that well-regarded opera companies have chosen to perform periodically. Over the past two decades, since the creation of this website, I have posted performance reviews of the world premieres or world … Read more

The Santa Fe Opera imported an elegant production of Richard Strauss’ “Der Rosenkavalier” that premiered in 2021 at England’s Garsington Opera. “Rosenkavalier” can be considered as three intertwined stories, skillfully integrated by the Austrian team of composer Richard Strauss and librettist Hugo von Hoftmanstahl. The first story is that of the Marschallin, who begins the … Read more

A review of Santa Fe Opera’s 2024 new production of Mozart’s “Don Giovanni”

Mane Galoyan’s Violetta is a highlight of Louisa Muller’s new Santa Fe Opera production of “La Traviata”.

Sab Francisco Opera continued its commitment to presentation of baroque operatic masterpieces by reviving Christopher Alden’s popular production of Handel’s “Partenope”, one of the hits of the company’s 2014 season. Christopher Alden’s Production Christopher Alden’s production of Handel’s “Partenope” was first performed at the English National Opera in 2008. My performance reviews of both the … Read more

For the past dozen years, Australian director Barrie Kosky’s production of Mozart’s last opera, “The Magic Flute” (Die Zauberflöte) has traveled widely, being performed by opera companies large and small worldwide. I covered the Kosky production’s 2013 American premiere at the Los Angeles Opera [Review: Outrageously Inventive, Unceasingly Entertaining – Kosky/Andrade/Barritt’s Silent Movie “Magic Flute” … Read more

The opera “Innocence” begins with a wedding celebration in Helsinki, Finland, but the central story is about the continued impact of an event that took place ten years earlier. As the story unfolds, we learn that the bridgegroom’s older brother, in reaction to being bullied and humiliated by fellow students at a nearby international school, … Read more