Reviews

San Francisco Opera unveiled in a spiffy new production of Rossini’s most famous opera, “Il Barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville)” . Co-produced with the Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theater, it contains the latest thoughts of Spanish production designer Emilio Sagi as to how this most popular of operatic comedies should be staged. … Read more

The Los Angeles Opera, whose tribute to the celebration of the bicentennial of Giuseppe Verdi’s birth included a mounting of his early opera “I Due Foscari”, unveiled a new production of Verdi’s final masterpiece, “Falstaff” in an appealing production, starring Italian baritone Robert Frontali. [Below: Roberto Frontali as Sir John Falstaff; edited image, based on … Read more

In a production that began its life in Opera Australia’s Sydney and Melbourne homes, Johann Strauss’ quintessentially Viennese operetta, “Die Fledermaus” was mounted by Houston Grand Opera with a stellar cast – with some unexpected role assignments. The story, transformed from mid-century Austria to a North American metropolis of the 1930s, was translated from German … Read more

Houston Grand Opera revived its 2007 production of Verdi’s “Aida”, that features Zandra Rhodes’ sets and costumes that portray the comic-book colored Rhodes vision of ancient Egypt. In its six year absence from the Houston’s stage, the Rhodes show traveled to London, San Francisco and San Diego [See, for example, Latonia Moore, Jill Grove Outstanding in the … Read more

Conductor Nicola Luisotti, who serves as the Music Director of both the San Francisco Opera and the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, Italy, became the central figure in a remarkable event that has both musical and cultural significance. He conducted a performance of Verdi’s “Requiem” at San Francisco’s War Memorial Opera House, in which … Read more

RIchard Wagner’s “Flying Dutchman” with its relatively small cast and minimal set requirements has been a popular choice of opera managements as the vehicle for observing the 200th anniversary of the German composer’s birth-year. San Francisco Opera unveiled a new production of Wagner’s  “Flying Dutchman” that incorporates multicolored projected visual images of the ocean, ghost world … Read more

Having reviewed the  San Francisco Opera season’s first night of Verdi’s “Falstaff”, [Bryn Terfel Triumphs in an Authoritative “Falstaff” – San Francisco Opera, October 9, 2013] I returned for the fourth of the scheduled eight performances. This second review gives an opportunity to highlight many of the admirable details of the production that I had … Read more

In another display of her seemingly unbounded creative energy Francesca Zambello revealed her new production of “The Force of Destiny [La Forza del Destino]”, yet another contribution to the bicentennial of Giuseppe Verdi’s birth. [Below: Stage director Francesca Zambello, here in the first staging of Wagner’s “Die Walküre” as part of the Zambello “Ring of … Read more

After more than a decade’s absence Welsh bass-baritone Bryn Terfel returned to the San Francisco Opera stage in the title role of Giuseppe Verdi’s “Falstaff”. Unlike all other Verdi operas, and all others operas in the comic genre, “Falstaff” is dominated by a central, rather tragicomic figure, who interplays with nine other principals. [Below: Sir … Read more

I previously reported on the performance of Boito’s “Mefistofele” that opened San Francisco Opera’s 2013-14 season [see World Treasure: Carsen’s Magnificent “Mefistofele” Returns to San Francisco Opera – September 6, 2013.] Three weeks later I returned to the War Memorial Opera House to experience a performance of the production once again. Mephistopheles as Main Attraction The … Read more

Delibes’ “Lakme”, one of the most popular French operatic works of the late 19th century, has experienced a revival of interest in the 21st century. An elegant, beautifully costumed co-production was created in 2006 by the Opera of Southern Australia (based in Sydney and Melbourne) and the Opera de Montreal. The production, first seen in … Read more

All the elements were in place for a memorable performance of Bizet’s “Carmen” – a conductor who himself was a distinguished protagonist of the opera’s lead tenor role, an international cast of major stars, and one of the world’s great productions of this most popular of French operas. The Los Angeles Opera used these incomparable … Read more

In a spectacularly theatrical production that demonstrated the substantial resources the San Francisco Opera invests in a world premiere work, Tobias Picker’s opera based on Stephen King’s blockbuster novel Dolores Claiborne was given a lavish first performance. [Photo: Dolores Claiborne (Patricia Racette) is being questioned on suspicion of murder; edited image, based on a Cory … Read more

In the late 1980s the Canadian production designer/stage director Robert Carsen burst onto the world stage, establishing his credentials with an extraordinary production of Boito’s “Mefistofele” for the Grand Théâtre de Genève in 1989. The San Francisco Opera, that signed on as a co-producer with Geneva’s opera, presented the work later that year as a vehicle for … Read more

The final episode of the first of 2013’s three four-opera cycles of Richard Wagner’s “Ring of the Nibelungs” took place at Seattle Opera’s Marion Oliver McCaw Hall at Seattle Center. The performance coincided with both the 200th anniversary of Wagner’s birth and the 50th anniversary of the founding of Seattle Opera. It demonstrated that the Pacific … Read more

“Siegfried”, the Seattle Opera’s third installment of its extraordinary production of Wagner’s “Der Ring des Nibelungen”, proved to be a resounding success, easily absorbing a substitution in the role of Bruennhilde for the under-the-weather Alwyn Mellor. Notes on “Siegfried” – the Opera Wagner predicted that “Siegfried” would be the “Ring” opera that would become the … Read more

Seattle Opera’s luxurious mounting of Wagner’s “Ring of the Nibelungs” continued with the imposing  “Die Walküre”. The second part of the four opera “Ring of the Nibelungs”, the opera “Die Walküre”, has almost the same cast as it had in Seattle Opera’s 2009 “Ring”, with the exception of five of the nine valkyries – Wotan’s … Read more

The year of the 200th anniversary of the birth of Richard Wagner and the 50th anniversary of the Seattle Opera was the occasion for the latest and perhaps last revival of the Stephen Wadsworth production of his four opera “Ring of the Nibelungs”. Wadsworth’s extraordinary achievement, when  considered against the rest of the world’s current … Read more

The Santa Fe Opera revived Laurent Pelly’s 2009 production of Verdi’s “La Traviata”, which I have previously described in considerable detail [see Dessay’s Scintillating Role Debut as Violetta in Pelly’s Imaginative Santa Fe “Traviata” – July 3, 2009]. The revival includes most of Pelly’s concepts from the original production, although the second act sets are changed. … Read more

American oratorio composer Theodore Morrison and British stage director John Cox have collaborated on the creation of a new operatic work for counter-tenor David Daniels. The opera’s subject is the impact of a humiliating trial and brutal imprisonment of Irish author Oscar Wilde. A collaboration between the Santa Fe Opera and Opera Company of Philadelphia, … Read more

In an extraordinary revival of a once popular early 19th century work, the Santa Fe Opera presented its new production of Rossini’s “La Donna Del Lago (The Lady of the Lake)” to a sold out audience. The opera is based on Walter Scott’s famous poem The Lady of the Lake (not the same character as is associated … Read more

The 2013 Glimmerglass Festival celebrated the bicentennial of Richard Wagner’s birth with a new production of “The Flying Dutchman”. It also chose Giuseppe Verdi’s early comedy “Un Giorno di Regno” in a new American English translation as “King for a Day” as the bicentennial present for the Italian composer. The opera is comprised of scene … Read more

The 2013 Glimmerglass Festival alternates in rotation four musical evenings, of which one is a double bill whose two parts are entitled “Passions”. I have strongly recommended the first half of the double bill, the “Stabat Mater” [See Superlative: Anthony Roth Costanzo, Nadine Sierra, Ensemble Dancers Superb in Jessica Lang’s Visualization of Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater – … Read more

The Glimmerglass Festival, continuing General and Artistic Director Francesca Zambello’s commitment to American musical theater, mounted another of the classic mid-20th century hit musicals. “Camelot”, created by lyricist Alan Jay Lerner and composer Frederick Loewe, is generally based on the Arthurian legend and specifically on the latter part of T. H. White’s 1930s tetralogy, The … Read more

In one of the most extraordinary experiences an operagoer is likely to see, the Glimmerglass Festival mounted Jessica Lang’s production of Giovanni Battista Pergolesi’s 1736 “Stabat Mater (There Stands the Mother)” based on a 13th century Latin poem of uncertain authorship. The vocal music, written for two high voices, was sung by Countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo … Read more