Reviews, appreciation and analysis of all things opera
William Burnett 
This is the third post in an ongoing quest for productions of the operas of Gaetano Donizetti that has taken me to Donizetti’s home town of Bergamo in Lombardy for background, and, for performances, to Paris (for Laurent Pelly’s production of “L’Elixir d’Amour”) to Zurich (for “Don Pasquale”), to Houston (for “Fille du Regiment”), to … Read more
As a vehicle for veteran basso Samuel Ramey, San Francisco Opera mounted a production closely associated with him – the seven scene 1869 version of Mussorgsky’s “Boris Godunov”. Ramey was supported by memorable performances by the San Francisco Opera Orchestra, conducted by Vassily Sinaisky, in his debut season with the opera company, and the San … Read more
Note from William: I recently traveled to Pittsburgh for opening night of the 2008-09 Pittsburgh Opera season, featuring the role debut of Stephanie Blythe in Saint-Saens’ “Samson et Dalila”. This provided an opportunity to interview the newly appointed general director of the Pittsburgh Opera, Christopher Hahn. [Below: Christopher Hahn, photograph courtesy of Pittsburgh Opera.] Wm: … Read more
By tradition and for practical reasons, persons who review opera performances usually attend the first performance in a season of a given opera, although persons reviewing performances at several companies often must attend a second or later performance at one company to be able to accommodate to the schedule of another. Almost every company is … Read more
For opening night of the Pittsburgh Opera’s 2008-09 season, Saint-Saens’ “Samson et Dalila” was performed in a “refurbished” production that saw the role debuts of tenor Frank Porretta as Samson and mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe as Dalila. It was also the occasion for the stage debut of baritone Kim Josephson (who had sung the role in … Read more
For Lyric Opera’s 1997-98 season Nicolas Joel created a production of Bizet’s “Les Pecheurs de Perles” in which Paul Groves and Gino Quilico played the male lead roles, with sets created by Hubert Monloup. Eleven seasons later, the Joel production was revived, with extensive revisions. Scott Marr of Lyric’s Ryan Opera Center created new sets … Read more
Lyric Opera’s 2008-09 season commenced with Massenet’s “Manon” in the fascinating David McVicar production, originally designed for English National Opera in London and subsequently shown in Barcelona, Auckland, Liege, Houston and Dallas. McVicar, who sticks to the story and time period of most operas he assays, famously delves into the sexual conduct at least implied … Read more
Conductor Donald Runnicles again showed that the San Francisco Opera has the ability to produce challenging repertory, leading the effort to bring the 2004 co-production (from the Salzburg and Vienna opera companies) of Korngold’s “Die Tote Stadt” to the Bay Area. It proved to be unambiguosly a personal triumph for Runnicles, who leaves his post … Read more
Tom’s Notes on the Santa Fe Season, Part II Tom’s Notes Part I contains my comments on Santa Fe Opera’s 2008 presentation of Verdi’s “Falstaff”, and Bob and Annie’s thoughts on the contemporary opera, “Adriana Mater”. William previously posted reviews on the company’s productions of Mozart’s “Marriage of Figaro” and Britten’s “Billy Budd” (to which Tom’s … Read more
Tom’s Notes on the Santa Fe Season Part I Your website host William and I share the pleasure of reviewing this summer’s Santa Fe Opera Summer Festival Season. My 2008 Santa Fe season started with a spectacular backdrop for the stage. Even for Santa Fe, the iridescent-red sunset for the August 18 performance of Mozart’s … Read more
Los Angeles Opera in 2004 unveiled Robert Wilson’s concept production of Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly”, incorporating the ideas from a previous Wilson “Butterfly” created a decade earlier for Opera National de Paris. In the subsequent L. A. season, Wilson’s thoughts on Wagner’s “Parsifal” introduced in Hamburg in the early 1990’s were the basis for another new Los Angeles Opera … Read more
San Francisco Opera General Director David Gockley assumed the leadership of the Bay Area’s operatic powerhouse at the beginning of 2006, and has done a creditable job of changing the direction of the company that had seemed to have disconnected itself from its traditional standards of excellence and from the interests and desires of its audiences. Scrapping some … Read more
San Francisco Opera has demonstrated that a great opera company can present the mainstream treasures of the operatic repertory respectfully, yet simultaneously expand the boundaries of the operatic medium. One year after the extraordinary world premiere of Philip Glass’ “Appomattox” in San Francisco, the company achieved an even greater success with the world premiere of … Read more
Hollywood Does Los Angeles Opera – Part IV Those who listen to the orchestral suites of Canadian Howard Shore’s soundtrack music culled from such cinema masterpieces as Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy or Martin Scorsese’s The Aviator will recognize an immensely talented composer of luscious music. His invitation to compose an opera commissioned by the Los … Read more
Hollywood Does Los Angeles Opera – Part III Los Angeles Opera, which earlier in the evening unveiled blockbuster new productions of Puccini’s “Il Tabarro” and “Suor Angelica” created by Academy Award winning film director William Friedkin, turned the final third of the evening over to Academy Award winning film director Woody Allen. Friedkin took two operas, each of whose dramatic and … Read more
Hollywood Does Los Angeles Opera – Part II Giacomo Puccini’s favorite of the three operas of the Trittico was “Suor Angelica” and it annoyed him greatly that opera companies would drop it from an evening’s program and perform only “Tabarro” and “Gianni Schicchi” (or one of those two operas paired with something entirely different). It … Read more
Hollywood Does Los Angeles Opera – Part I Los Angeles Opera has presented Giacomo Puccini with several presents for his year-long 150th birthday party that should improve the fortunes substantively of a trio of his lesser known works. Since the opera company’s founding, it has performed at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion within the complex of … Read more
After the Fall of Emperor Napoleon III, France decided to give Republicanism a third chance, and, this time it put down roots, with no monarch nor emperor sitting on a French throne ever since. There were 20th century catastrophes to come, and some political and social turmoil at the end of the 19th, but, all in all, … Read more
This website has reviewed productions that are scheduled for performance (in each of the cases listed below) at other opera houses. Our reviews gave high marks to these productions and strongly recommends each for the consideration of opera goers with an opportunity to see them. Our reviews of each of these productions are cited. Simon Boccanegra (Verdi), San Francisco Opera, September 5, 9, 12, 17, 21, 24 … Read more
In December 2007, joining members of my family and my Opera Warhorses colleague, Tom, I attended one of the annual Christmastide Bracebridge Dinners at the Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite National Park. As it turned out, several of the San Francisco Opera choristers were spending the latter half of December in Yosemite, as performers for the … Read more
Santa Fe Opera, now well into its second half-century, finally has chosen to include Britten’s 57 year old opera, “Billy Budd”, into its repertoire. Although it is hardly appropriate to say it was worth the wait for the first presentation of an opera that many other opera companies have presented several times, there are features about … Read more
Santa Fe Opera’s retiring General Director Richard Gaddes, and his predecessor, the late John Crosby, deserved their reputations for identifying operatic singers who are in early career and yet have the vocal and histrionic abilities predictive of international success. Among the Santa Fe “apprentice singers” who achieved such success are Sherrill Milnes, James Morris, Neil … Read more
The reign of Napoleon III proved to be an extraordinarily dynamic one for France, and especially, Paris, its capital city, even though the reign ended badly for Napoleon and Paris itself was roughed up a bit at the end. We especially remember the Second Empire for Paris’ architectural and transportation makeovers. But there is an operatic legacy … Read more
Several decades have passed since mid-20th century operas by Britten, Stravinsky, Poulenc and Floyd, among others, were composed. Several of these works have a substantial performance history, with productions mounted at companies throughout the world. At some opera houses, over the past several decades, there have been three or more new productions of at least one opera … Read more
Donizetti’s “Lucia di Lammermoor” is one of the great star turns in the operatic repertory, yet at the same time it is a quintessential ensemble opera, whose sextet is perhaps the most famous opportunity in all of opera for the lead soprano, tenor, baritone and bass to join voices in a single number (sharing the … Read more