Reviews

William and I were both present at the October 14th matinee of the San Francisco Opera production of Philip Glass’ “Appomattox”, recounting the end of the American Civil War.  It was presented in the War Memorial Opera House, itself built to commemorate the end of World War I – the War to end all Wars. … Read more

Those of us who spend most of our time in the Northern hemisphere may know very little about the work of operatic stage director Moffatt Oxenbould, most of it associated with the Opera Australia in Sydney. His most renowned production is of Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly”, which premiered at Opera Australia in 1997, and has been … Read more

As a patron who has been attending performances of the San Francisco Opera for over half a century, and have been a subscriber for 48 consecutive seasons, I had expressed concern at the slow decline in the quality of performances at the War Memorial Opera House, beginning in the mid-1980s, which I felt accelerated in … Read more

In the third week of October 2005 Pamela Rosenberg, still General Director of the San Francisco Opera, was minding the dress rehearsals for a borrowed physical production of Bellini’s “Norma” so tacky that Rosenberg, with the candor that might be her most likeable feature, told the San Francisco press that she wished she had had … Read more

Wagner’s ten major operas are about Northern Europe in “times of distant past”. Eight of them directly or indirectly deal with the issues of the old gods of ancient times, and their replacement by the newer idea of one God in Heaven, who oversees Christian peoples. For readers who find this a strange proposition, consider … Read more

Returning to Santa Fe Opera’s summer season is always a maximum delight. Each summer we anticipate fabulous productions set in the most sublime outdoor setting conceivable. Between operas we enjoy dining on Santa Fe’s unique cuisine, presented in spectacular and abundant regionally-perfect restaurants, and dallying in some of the 250+ art galleries! [Below: Dancers (in … Read more

The following review is from guest reviewer, Thomas Rubbert: Last night we came, we saw, and we were conquered by L. A.’s spectacular new “Fidelio” which garnered the longest line of ticket-seekers I have seen at the Music Center. The L. A. audience roared in unison at the triumphant end as Grant Gerson’s Los Angeles … Read more

Zurich was warmer than usual for late September when soprano Malin Hartelius set down to eat a mid-day meal with her children. At the Zurich Opera House, veteran conductor Nello Santi, celebrating what would become an unforgettable birthday, raised his baton for the Zurich season’s second performance of Donizetti’s “Don Pasquale”. [Below: Conductor Nello Santi; … Read more

Paris is the first stop in my 2007-08 pilgrimage “In Quest of Donizetti” that I have planned to honor the 50th anniversary of Leyla Gencer’s first Donizetti role, Lucia di Lammermoor – her role debut taking place at the San Francisco Opera. In Paris, I experienced the first revival of Laurent Pelly’s imaginative staging of … Read more

Those anticipating my review of Saint-Saens’ “Samson et Dalila” at the San Francisco Opera know that I have already highlighted the production in a earlier web-page as a best bet for seeing a world class performance. As I approached this evening, I wondered what I was was going to say in my review of this … Read more

Forward by William: In my most recently posted review, I proposed that the wider world begin to recognize the San Francisco Opera as one of a limited number of the world’s opera companies with the capacity to produce Richard Strauss’ “Der Rosenkavalier” as it should be presented. Tom, who has contributed his own reviews on … Read more

The following correspondence has been received from Tom, our principal guest reviewer, on the latest offering of the Los Angeles Opera: Placido Domingo – opera superstar tenor and now impresario – has long wanted to introduce Los Angeles opera audiences to the delights of Spanish zarzuela – the uniquely Spanish light opera very much in … Read more

One of the late 20th century buzz-phrases still very much in 21st century currency is the “center for excellence” – applied to academic institutions, hospital services, aircraft design teams and any other human activity that can be done so exceedingly well that it is worthy of the attention of a wider community. I have not … Read more

Christoph Gluck’s Operatic Reforms Historical figures with as different a perspective on French revolutionary thought as Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Marie Antoinette were in agreement that the French “reform operas” of the Chevalier Christoph Willibald Gluck set new standards in operatic performance. Gluck’s masterpiece among the eight French operas in the reform category is “Iphigénie en … Read more

San Francisco Opera up until now has seen little of Polish baritone Mariusz Kwiecien, who had appeared previously only as Marcello in the second cast of Puccini’s “La Boheme” in 2004.  Having established himself as one of the world’s pre-eminent interpreters of Mozart, he returned to San Francisco in the title role in a new … Read more

Is it possible for a bi-coastal American creative team, centered in the San Diego opera and theatre communities and New York City’s Broadway theatre district, to mount a production of Alban Berg’s opera “Wozzeck” so revelatory that it may change the way the public thinks about that opera? Is it possible that such a team … Read more

Verdi’s “Il Trovatore”, one of the great masterpieces of Italian opera, has, from its triumphant premiere 155 years ago, always been popular with the opera-going public, even as generations of detractors have developed their talking points on why we must not love the opera so much. We have always been told this opera’s plot is … Read more

Washington National Opera’s second installment of its new production of Wagner’s “Der Ring des Nibelungen” (co-produced with the San Francisco Opera) debuted at the Kennedy Center in late March. I attended its second performance. Circumstances had prevented me from attending the WNO production of its prequel opera “Das Rheingold” in 2006, where the Rhinemaidens are … Read more

Despite the Surgeon General’s warning about cigarettes, the recent production of Bizet’s “Carmen” at Opera Pacific, smoked Orange County. As one who has seen this numero uno opera for paying the bills countless wonderful times (including an August 2006 performance in Santa Fe, a link to whose review occurs at the bottom of this page), … Read more

Richard Wagner’s “Tannhäuser”, although firmly in the standard repertoire, has tended to be performed a little less often in recent years than the work that preceded it (“The Flying Dutchman”) and the eight operas he wrote afterwards. That appears, at least for the near future, to be changing. California’s three most important opera companies – … Read more

Many operatic artists of the first rank, and that seems an entirely appropriate category for Denyce Graves, have “signature roles” through which they gain public esteem. Ms Graves is a renowned Carmen, but has chosen Dalila as her particular specialty. Besides being an artist of high integrity, who approaches the treasures of the French repertoire … Read more

For the past 35 or so years, opera companies in the United States and throughout the world have been experimenting with versions of Mussorgsky’s “Boris Godunov” other than the elegantly re-orchestrated version by Mussorgsky’s close friend, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, that held the world’s stages for nearly a century. A common theme underlay each experiment – to … Read more

The foul weather flags were flying along Galveston Bay, the Houston area’s Gulf of Mexico shoreline, when William Burden, the tenor scheduled to sing the title role in Houston Grand Opera’s production of Gounod’s “Faust” awoke to an inflamed throat. Throughout the day he consulted with his doctor, voice experts, and the opera’s management. It … Read more

California’s hottest late November/early December ticket for opera was the San Francisco Opera production of Bizet’s Carmen, whose nine scheduled performances were completely sold out for several weeks. Alternate casts and conductors permitted consecutive day performances on each of three weekends. This is a complete turnaround for a company that only a couple of years … Read more

Donald Runnicles’ first performance of Puccini’s “Manon Lescaut” in San Francisco, was his fifth Puccini work among 54 different operas he has conducted for the company. Originally scheduled in a different (and almost certainly less traditional) production by former General Director Pamela Rosenberg, it represented current Director David Gockley’s fifth change in the fall season … Read more