Avatar photoWilliam Burnett

I have been attending opera performances since my early teenage years. In 2005, I created operawarhorses.com, and have traveled throughout North America, and to Europe and Asia to report on opera performances and to interview opera performers, conductors and administrators.

A Conversation with San Francisco Opera General Director David Gockley

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The following conversation with San Francisco Opera General Director David Gockley took place in the administrative offices of the San Francisco Opera, whose facilitation of this conversation is greatly appreciated. It has updated my previous interviews with him [See An Interview with San Francisco Opera’s David Gockley, Part 1 and  An Interview with San Francisco Opera’s David Gockley, Part 2.]   [Below: … Read more

A Conversation with Lyric Coloratura Soprano Laura Claycomb, part 1

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The following conversation with soprano Laura Claycomb began in the administrative offices of the Houston Grand Opera, whose facilitation of this interview is greatly appreciated. It has updated my previous interviews with her [See Rising Stars: An Interview with Laura Claycomb, Part 1 and  Rising Stars: An Interview with Laura Claycomb Part 2] and has continued subsequently on a wide … Read more

Historical Performances: Tito Gobbi as Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi – San Francisco Opera, October 10, 1964

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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 part of the seventh of 13 such observances of performances from the company’s 1964 Fall season. I reported on the first half of a double bill … Read more

Historical Performances: Jean-Pierre Ponnelle’s “Carmina Burana” Revived at San Francisco Opera – October 10, 1964

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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 first part of the seventh of 13 such observances of performances from the company’s 1964 Fall season. In 1958, the set and costume designs of Jean-Pierre … Read more

Historical Performances: Bizet’s “Carmen” with Regina Resnik, Jon Vickers and Pilar Lorengar – San Francisco Opera, October 9, 1964

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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 sixth of 13 such observances of performances from the company’s 1964 Fall season. Even after a decade of attending operas, I had not seen my first … Read more

Historical Performances: “Nozze di Figaro” with Geraint Evans, Grist, Lorengar, Waechter – San Francisco Opera, October 3, 1964

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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 fifth of 13 such observances of performances from the company’s 1964 Fall season. Experiencing, within a three week period a new production of Wagner’s “Parsifal” and … Read more

Historical Performances: Ella Lee, Dalis, Kuchta, Waechter, Martell in “Frau ohne Schatten” – San Francisco Opera, September 26, 1964

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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 fourth of 13 such observances of performances from the company’s 1964 Fall season. Although Richard Strauss’ “Die Frau ohne Schatten” was my third opera on my Saturday … Read more

“Hey, Figaro!”: A Conversation with Baritone Lucas Meachem

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Previously, I conducted a two-part interview with baritone Lucas Meachem, which can be accessed at Rising Stars: An Interview with Lucas Meachem, Part 1 and Rising Stars: An Interview with Lucas Meachem, Part 2. The following conversation took place in anticipation of Meachem’s scheduled appearance as Figaro in Corigliano’s “Ghosts of Versailles” at the Los Angeles Opera. [Below: Lucas … Read more

Historical Performances: Schwarzkopf, Seefried, Edelmann, Grist in “Der Rosenkavalier” – San Francisco Opera, September 24, 1964

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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 13 such observances of performances from the company’s 1964 Fall season. San Francisco Opera during the early years of the long-play record was a regular … Read more

Historical Performances: “Otello” with McCracken, Gobbi and Lorengar – San Francisco Opera, September 19, 1964

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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 13 such observances of performances from the company’s 1964 Fall season. Two seasons prior at the San Francisco Opera, I had seen the team … Read more

Review: Los Angeles Opera’s Magically Staged and Sung “Florencia en el Amazonas” – November 22, 2014

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The late composer Daniel Catán’s 1996 Spanish-language opera “Florencia en El Amazonas”, has been revived in a new co-production between the Washington National Opera (where the production debuted in September 2014), the Los Angeles Opera and the San Francisco Opera. The lushly-scored, romantically melodic work is a Latin American fantasy about three couples, two present on … Read more

Review: Crocetto, Berrugi, Dehn, Mulligan Star in Well-sung, Intelligently-Acted “La Boheme” – San Francisco Opera, November 15, 2014

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The night after the first San Francisco Opera performance of its co-production of “La Boheme” with Houston Grand Opera and Toronto’s Canadian Opera Company [see Review: Michael Fabiano, Alexia Voulgaridou are Vocally Splendid in John Caird’s Cleverly Conceived “La Boheme” – San Francisco Opera, November 14, 2014], the opera was presented again with a cast in … Read more

Review: Michael Fabiano, Alexia Voulgaridou are Vocally Splendid in John Caird’s Cleverly Conceived “La Boheme” – San Francisco Opera, November 14, 2014

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Puccini’s “La Boheme” is a perennial candidate for the title of world’s most popular opera.  There are a couple of other contenders, bur none so peopled with likeable characters so in love with life, and so affected when one of them, Mimi, succumbs to a fatal illness.. The San Francisco Opera has a long record … Read more

Review: “Cenerentola” – San Francisco Opera’s Splendidly Sung, Sumptuously Staged Cinderella Story, November 9, 2014

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San Francisco Opera, mixing old and new, continued a highly successful fall season by mounting its historic Jean-Pierre Ponnelle production of Rossini’s “Cenerentola”. It proved to be another smash hit, resulting in standing ovations for the four principals and conductor Jesus Lopez-Cobos. First mounted in the 1969 season for Spanish mezzo Teresa Berganza, it is literally the oldest … Read more

Rising Stars: An Interview with Melody Moore

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The following interview took place in the administrative offices of the Houston Grand Opera, whose facilitation of the interview is deeply appreciated:   [Below: Soprano Melody Moore; resized image of a publicity photograph.]   Wm: My custom is to ask each artist what their earliest memories of music were. What are yours? MM: I was involved … Read more

Review: O’Neill, Pérez and Vratogna Impressive in Houston Grand Opera’s “Otello” – November 1, 2014

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The Houston Grand Opera, as the opening night of its 60th season, mounted Verdi’s “Otello” with Simon O’Neill in the title role, Ailyn Pérez as Desdemona and Marco Vratogna as Otello’s nemesis Iago. I attended the third of five scheduled performances. Simon O’Neill’s Otello [Photo: Simon O’Neill as Otello; edited image, based on a Lynn … Read more

Review: Classy Cast in Classic “Cosi fan Tutte” – Houston Grand Opera, October 31, 2014

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Swedish director Göran Järvefelt’s 1988 production of Mozart’s “Cosi fan Tutte” was revived by the Houston Grand Opera. Sporting a cast consisting of veteran operatic comedians Nuccia Focile as Despina and Alessandro Corbelli as Don Alfonso, it provides the vehicle for showing the talents of four young rising stars of opera. Rachel Willis-Sørensen is Fiordiligi, Melody … Read more

Review: Mariusz Kwiecien Excels in Robert Falls’ New “Don Giovanni” Production – Lyric Opera of Chicago, October 29, 2014

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The venerable Lyric Opera opened its 2014 season with a new production of Mozart’s “Don Giovanni”, the opera that opened the first Lyric Opera season 60 years ago. The new production was created by Robert Falls, the Artistic Director of the even more venerable Goodman Theater, which is currently celebrating its 90th season. Although “Don Giovanni” is … Read more

Review: Renée Fleming’s Reverential “Capriccio” at Lyric Opera – Chicago, October 28, 2014

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One of Renée Fleming’s favorite roles is the Countess Madeline in Richard Strauss’ opera 1942 opera “Capriccio”. Lyric Opera mounted John Cox’ familiar production that time-shifts the opera from 1770s to the salon in a Parisian suburb of the 1920s (inspired by the Countess of Polignac, the famous patron of the arts). I last saw the Cox production of … Read more

Review: Golden Age Verdi Singing for Lyric Opera’s “Il Trovatore” – Chicago, October 27, 2014

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For a revival of Sir David McVicar’s effective production of Verdi’s “Il Trovatore”, the Lyric Opera of Chicago enlisted a stellar cast, led by South Korean tenor di forza Yonghoon Lee  in the lead role, Amber Wagner as his sweetheart Leonora, Stephanie Blythe as his mother Azucena, and Quinn Kelsey as his rival and unknown brother, the … Read more

Review: Béla Bartók’s “Bluebeard’s Castle” at Los Angeles Opera – October 25, 2014

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Barrie Kosky’s production of Bartók’s “Bluebeard’s Castle” is the second half of a double bill of operas being performed by the Los Angeles Opera. A review of Purcell’s “Dido and Aeneas”, the first half of the double bill, can be found at Review: Barrie Kosky’s Spirited “Dido and Aeneas” Arrives at Los Angeles Opera – October 25, 2014.]   … Read more

Review: Barrie Kosky’s Spirited “Dido and Aeneas” Arrives at Los Angeles Opera – October 25, 2014

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Barrie Kosky’s production of Purcell’s “Dido and Aeneas” is the first half of a double bill of operas being performed by the Los Angeles Opera. A review of Bartok’s “Bluebeard’s Castle”, the second half of the double bill, may be found at Béla Bartók’s “Bluebeard’s Castle” at Los Angeles Opera – October 25, 2014.   Director Barrie … Read more

A Second Look Review: “Partenope” at the San Francisco Opera – October 24, 2014

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 [Note from William: I attended both the first and fourth performances of the San Francisco Opera production of “Partenope”. The following remarks supplement those of the original review at Review: An Engaging Cast, Handel’s Seductive Music, and Christopher Alden’s Surreal Staging Enliven San Francisco Opera’s “Partenope” – San Francisco Opera, October 15, 2014.]   In my … Read more