Reviews

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

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

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

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

 [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

Armenian soprano Lianna Haroutounian’s American debut took place at the San Francisco Opera  in the title role of Puccini’s “Tosca”. Performing a role she was singing for the first time, her gleaming soprano filled the War Memorial Opera House. Her second act showpiece Vissi d’arte received the great ovation that one expects from San Francisco audiences for a first rank … Read more

The San Francisco Opera was founded in 1923 but did not perform its first regular season opera composed by George Friderick Handel until 59 years later when Handel’s most performed operatic work, ‘Giulio Cesare”, was first mounted. In the 32 San Francisco Opera seasons that followed the 1982 “Cesare” eight different Handel operas have been performed. The eighth … Read more

Verdi’s “Un Ballo in Maschera”, loosely based on the historical assassination of Swedish King Gustavus III at a masked ball, is an iconic Verdian opera, which has a lustrous performance tradition at the San Francisco Opera.. [Below: King Gustavo (Ramón Vargas, front, second from left) has decided to ignore the advice of the Chief Magistrate (A. … Read more

Earlier this month, I praised Carlisle Floyd’s 1955 opera “Susannah” in its new San Francisco Opera production [see Review: Racette, Aceto, Jovanovich in Brilliant New Production of “Susannah” – San Francisco Opera, September 6, 2014]. Seeing the opera in this production once again, I was impressed with the glories of the musical score and the dramatically gripping … Read more

My review of the opening night of the San Francisco Opera 2014-15 season (and of its new production of Bellini’s “Norma”) was posted a week ago [See Review: Sondra Radvanovsky’s Stunning Season Opening “Norma” – San Francisco Opera, September 5, 2014.] In that review I had praised the artistry of the Norma, Sondra Radvanovsky, and the … Read more

There was much to admire in the Los Angeles Opera’s 2014-15 season-opening production of Verdi’s “La Traviata’ – the expert conducting of the Los Angeles Opera Orchestra by its music director James Conlon; Arturo Chacon-Cruz’ silky-smooth lyric tenor used so effectively in an ardent portrayal of Alfredo Germont; a strong cast in the supporting roles; … Read more

In a few weeks, Carlisle Floyd’s great opera “Susannah” will be 60 years old. To place that fact in the context of other operas in the standard repertory, consider that when “Susannah” had its premiere, Puccini’s “Turandot” was 29 years old and George Gershwin and DuBose Heyward’s “Porgy and Bess” was only 20 years old. “Susannah’s” … Read more

For the first time in the 92-year old history of the San Francisco Opera, Bellini’s “Norma” was chosen to launch the company’s Fall season. The role of Norma, the Druid priestess whose secret affair with a Roman proconsul has produced two children, is considered a pinnacle of  early 19th century bel canto Italian opera. Illinois soprano Sondra Radvanovsky … Read more

Bizet’s “Carmen” was the opera chosen for the 2014 Santa Fe Opera season’s opening night. It’s a dressy night, one the ritual occasions for tuxedos and subtly colored bow ties. Parties abound both in town, and “on campus”, including the elaborate parking lot tailgate parties for which the Santa Fe Opera is famous [Review: Stephen Lawless’ Creative New “Carmen” … Read more

The state of New Mexico styles itself as the “Land of Enchantment”.  The state’s major opera company, the Santa Fe Opera, created its own Land of Enchantment, a mythical China inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale, “The Nightingale”. The extraordinary evening is the product of the brilliant mind of Michael Gieleta, a Polish born … Read more

Director Stephen Wadsworth, whose production of Wagner’s “Ring of the Nibelungs” at the Seattle Opera I have suggested be internationally recognized as a world treasure [see World Treasure: Seattle Opera’s Gripping and Glorious “Götterdämmerung” – August 9, 2013], has created a new production of Beethoven’s “Fidelio” for the Santa Fe Opera. Currently in repertory at … Read more

Santa Fe Opera’s new production of Huang Ruo’s 2011 opera “Doctor Sun Yat-Sen” demonstrated the depth of the artistic resources that the company commands. The opera’s libretto is written in the Mandarin and Cantonese Chinese dialects. The opera was considerably recomposed with new orchestration designed for the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra that integrated several traditional Chinese instruments. [Pboto: Chinese composer … Read more

Composer Tobias Picker’s 2005 opera based on Theodore Dreiser’s 1925 novel, was presented at the 2014 Glimmerglass Festival in a revised version, directed by Peter Kazaras. [Photo: Director Peter Kazaras, resized image, based on an Alan Alabastro photograph for Seattle Opera.] In its previous form, the opera had been commissioned by the New York Metropolitan Opera in a … Read more

Director Francesca Zambello, whose imagination seems boundless, can always be counted on to provide us with new insights into familiar operas. Her latest new production, created for the Glimmerglass (New York) Festival of which she is the General Director, is a reconceptualization of Richard Strauss’ “Ariadne auf Naxos”. No part of the witty concoction by … Read more

The 2014 Glimmerglass Festival, as part of the company’s multi-year salute to the American musical, mounted Rodgers’ and Hammerstein’s 1945 classic, “Carousel”. [Below: Director Charles Newell, edited image, based on a publicity photograph from the Goodman Theater of Chicago.] The creative team behind the production included two experts on Rodgers’ and Hammerstein’s masterful work, their second effort … Read more

Francesca Zambello, who has conceptualized and directed many brilliant opera productions brought her well-considered ideas about how to stage Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly” to the Glimmerglass Festival stage. I had reported on her innovative production, which originally debuted at Houston Grand Opera in 1999 on the most recent of its three mountings in San Diego [See Racette, Ventre Impress in … Read more

San Francisco Opera celebrated the Fourth of July weekend with a performance of Verdi’s “La Traviata” that introduced the “July cast”, consisting of mostly American singers led by Chicago-born Ailyn Pérez as Violetta, Philadelphia-born Stephen Costello as Alfredo and Honolulu-born Quinn Kelsey as Giorgio Germont.  The performance took place before an audience of over 2600 at San … Read more

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British Stage Director Stephen Lawless’ brilliantly conceived new production of “Carmen” was unveiled at Santa Fe Opera, with notable performances by Argentine mezzo-soprano Daniela Mack as Carmen, Italian tenor Roberto de Biasio as Don Jose, Lebanese soprano Joyce El-Khoury as Micaela, and Greek bass-baritone Kostas Smoriginas as Escamillo. The production’s most remarkable features were the arresting … Read more

There are many elements that go into a successful operatic performance. An array of brilliant elements were present in the imaginative 2006 production of Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly”, not seen previously in San Francisco, in which cast, conductor, orchestra and chorus, production design and staging all contributed to bringing Puccini’s heartrending tale of delusion and culture clash to … Read more