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.

Historical Performances: “Nozze di Figaro” with Geraint Evans, Reri Grist, Claire Watson and Thomas Stewart – San Francisco Opera – October 29, 1966

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Geraint Evans and Reri Grist in The Marriage of Figaro at San Francisco Opera, 1966.

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 eighth of fourteen such observances of performances from the company’s 1966 Fall season. Six days after a memorable Sunday matinee performance of Mussorgsky’s “Boris Godunov”, … Read more

Thoughts on Opera Performance at the End of 2020 – Some Consequences of the Covid-19 Pandemic

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I created the operawarhorses.com website in 2005, centering around my reviews of live opera performance and notes on historical performances I had attended in past decades. At the beginning of 2006, when Houston Grand Opera’s General Director David Gockley assumed the general directorship of the San Francisco Opera, I decided that at the end of … Read more

Historical Performances: “Boris Godunov” – San Francisco Opera, October 23, 1966

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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 seventh of fourteen such observances of performances from the company’s 1966 Fall season. In 1961, the San Francisco Opera premiered director Dino Yannopoulos’ production of … Read more

Historical Performances: Jess Thomas’ “Tannhäuser” with Régine Crespin, Janis Martin and Thomas Stewart – San Francisco Opera, October 22, 1966

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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 fourteen such observances of performances from the company’s 1966 Fall season. The next offering on my Saturday night San Francisco Opera subscription was … Read more

Historical Performances – “Rigoletto” with Glossop, Kraus, Grist and Kreppel – San Francisco Opera, October 16, 1966

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Peter Glossop and Reri Grist in Rigoletto at San Francisco Opera, 1966.

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 fourteen such observances of performances from the company’s 1966 Fall season. The San Francisco Opera’s 1966 season had mounted five opera productions in less … Read more

Historical Performances: Kirsten, Campora, Wolansky, Ghiuselev in San Francisco Opera’s Last 20th Century Performance of Montemezzi’s “L’Amore dei Tre Re” – October 15, 1966

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Scene from L'Amore dei Tre Re at San Francisco Opera, 1966.

Historical Performances: Kirsten, Campora, Wolansky, Ghiuselev in San Francisco Opera’s Last 20th Century Performance of Montemezzi’s “L’Amore dei Tre Re” – October 15, 1966 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 … Read more

Historical Performances – Vickers is “Don Carlo” with Watson, Horne, Glossop and Tozzi – San Francisco Opera, October 1, 1966

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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 fourteen such observances of performances from the company’s 1966 Fall season. A week after the Saturday night subscription series performance of RIchard Strauss’ “Elektra”, … Read more

Insight and Spectacle: An Interview with Director Francisco Negrin

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The following interview was conducted with American director Francisco Negrin, whose productions of operas by Handel, Gluck and Massenet I reviewed for this website, but whose scheduled Fall 2020 productions of Verdi’s ‘Il Trovatore” at the Los Angeles Opera was postponed for a year and of Massenet’s “Werther” at the Houston Grand Opera was canceled, … Read more

Historical Performances – Deep Casting, Siercke’s Set Design, Result in A Brilliant “Elektra”, San Francisco Opera, September 24, 1966

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Siercke's set for Elektra at San Francisco Opera, 1966.

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 fourteen such observances of performances from the company’s 1966 Fall season. My second performance of the San Francisco Opera’s Fall 1966 season was … Read more

DVD Review: Francesca Zambello, the American Musical and the San Francisco Opera, Part 2: “Porgy and Bess”

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This is the second of two discussions of DVDs of productions of classic American musicals performed by the San Francisco Opera, following DVD Review: Francesca Zambello, the American Musical and the San Francisco Opera, Part I: “Show Boat”. Each DVD is of a production conceived and staged by director Francesca Zambello.\ David Gockley, San Francisco Opera’s … Read more

Historical Performances: Sutherland, Kraus Introduce “I Puritani” to San Francisco Opera – September 20, 1966

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Joan Sutherland and Alfredo Kraus in I puritani at San Francisco Opera, 1966.

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 of fourteen such observances of performances from the company’s 1966 Fall season. San Francisco Opera’s 1966 main season opened with the company’s first ever performances … Read more

Rising Stars: An Interview with Countertenor Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen

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The following interview with New York countertenor Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen was conducted with the facilitation of the Houston Grand Opera. [Below: Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen; publicity photograph by Fay Fox.] Wm: Aryeh, often ask my interview subjects about the earliest memories that they had of music. What were yours?  ANC: I grew up in Brooklyn, NY, … Read more

A Conversation with Director John Pascoe, Part 9

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This is the ninth installment in a series of conversations between myself and British opera director John Pascoe, regarding operas for which he created the whole production, or a production’s sets or costumes. This conversation follows: A Conversation with John Pascoe, Part 8: Memorializing “Radically Authentic” Conductor and Baroque Music Scholar Alan Curtis. Wm: John, … Read more

An Opera Discussion During the Pandemic Lockdown – A Conversation with Director Stephen Lawless

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The following conversation is the follow-up to an in-person interview conducted in 2016 in Santa Fe. See: Opera as Drama: An Interview with Director Stephen Lawless. Wm: Stephen, since our interview in Santa Fe, I’ve reviewed your new productions of Weber and Mozart operas at Virginia Opera in Norfolk and at the San Diego Opera, … Read more

The State of Opera Production in a Worldwide Pandemic: A Conversation with Director Paul Curran

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Note from William: The following conversation took place between myself and Director Paul Curran, following up on our previous interview [Telling the Story: An Interview with Director Paul Curran]. [Below: Director Paul Curran; edited image, based on a Dietmar Schulz photograph, courtesy of paulcurrandirector.com.] Wm: It’s been three years since my interview with you at … Read more

Historical Performances: “Il Trovatore” with dal Ponte, Todd, Allen and Boatwright – San Francisco Spring Opera Theater, June 20, 1966

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Il trovatore at San Francisco Spring Opera Theater, 1966.

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 five such observances of performances from the company’s 1966 Spring Opera Theater season. Less than two years after my first live performance … Read more

Historical Performances: Douglas Moore’s “Carry Nation” with Wolff, Faull, Smith and Fredricks – San Francisco Spring Opera, June 13, 1966

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Note from William: This post continues my series of observances of performances that I attended at San Francisco Opera during the general directorship of Kurt Herbert Adler. This is the fourth of five such observances of performances from the company’s 1966 Spring Opera Theater season. Douglas Moore’s biographical opera “Carry Nation” provided a pyschological portrait … Read more

Historical Performances: Vanni, Armstrong, Beattie in “Italian Girl in Algiers” – San Francisco Spring Opera Theater, June 6, 1966

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Note from William: This post continues my series of observances of performances that I attended at San Francisco Opera during the general directorship of Kurt Herbert Adler. This is the third of five such observances of performances from the company’s 1966 Spring Opera Theater season. Mezzo-soprano Helen Vanni had opened the 1966 San Francisco Spring … Read more

Review: Sarasota Opera’s Beautifully Performed “La Boheme”, March 6, 2020

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Sarasota Opera’s 2020 winter season opened in February with a production of Puccini’s “La Boheme”, the quintessential Italian opera. I reviewed the ninth of 13 scheduled performances. Sarasota Opera’s “Boheme” was well-sung and admirably staged. Regrettably, one week after the performance, the fast-moving spread of the Covid-19 virus led the Sarasota Opera to cancel the … Read more

Review: Caitlin Crabill and Rafael Davila Lead Strong Cast for Catalani’s “La Wally” – Sarasota Opera, March 7, 2020

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Sarasota Opera mounted Alfredo Catalani’s masterwork, “La Wally”, one of the core works created as part of the Italian verismo movement that began in the 1890s. Caitlin Crabill’s La Wally Like his Italian contemporaries Pietro Mascagni and Giacomo Puccini, Catalani was a disciple of the composer Richard Wagner, whose influence can be discerned in the … Read more

In Quest of German Operatic Masterpieces – September 2020 to January, 2021

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I am scheduled to travel to San Francisco, Los Angeles, Dallas and Houston to review the following operas by Ludwig von Beethoven and Richard Wagner between September 2020 and January , 2021. [The entire Fall, 2020 San Francisco Opera season was canceled due to the Covid19 pandemic.] Fidelio (Beethoven), San Francisco Opera, September 12, 15, … Read more