Reviews, appreciation and analysis of all things opera
The following interview took place in the administrative offices of the Glimmerglass Festival, whose facilitation of this interview is gratefully acknowledged. [Soprano Yunah Lee; resized image of a publicity photograph.] Wm: What were your earliest memories of music? YL: I grew up in South Korea. When I was a child, the only place that I … Read more
The following interview took place in the administrative offices of the Glimmerglass Festival, whose facilitation is deeply appreciated. [Below: Lyric coloratura Rachele Gilmore; edited image, based on a Dario Acosta photograph, courtesy of Rachele Gilmore.] Wm: What are your earliest memories of music? RG: I don’t remember a time when I wasn’t aware of music. My … 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
The following interview took place at San Francisco’s War Memorial Opera House with the deeply appreciated facilitation of the San Francisco Opera. [Below: Basso Morris Robinson; resized image of a photograph from Facebook/Morris Robinson, Bass.] Wm: As a child, you were influenced by your father, a minister at the Israel Baptist Church in Northside Atlanta, … 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
For the first time in the history of the San Francisco Opera, Carlisle Floyd’s “Susannah” is being presented as part of the Opera’s “main season”. [For the subsequent performance review, see: REVIEW: RACETTE, ACETO, JOVANOVICH IN BRILLIANT NEW PRODUCTION OF “SUSANNAH” – SAN FRANCISCO OPERA, SEPTEMBER 6, 2014.] Three of the four main characters will be … Read more
The following interview took place with the deeply appreciated facilitation of the San Francisco Opera. [Below: Baritone Michael Todd Simpson; resized image, based on a publicity photograph.] Wm: You are from Gastonia, North Carolina. Are you from a family with deep North Carolina roots? MTS: Our entire family, including aunts and uncles, grew up on the same road. My great grandfather … Read more
This feature highlights selected performances of operas at the 2014 Santa Fe Opera Summer Festival and in San Francisco, Chicago and Los Angeles that I am scheduled to review. : Doctor Sun Yat-Sen (Huang Ruo), Santa Fe Opera, July 26, 30, August 8 and 14, 2014. Santa Fe Opera mounts the American premiere of Huang Ruo’s … 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
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
This feature highlights selected performances of operas at the 2014 Santa Fe Opera Summer Festival and in Los Angeles that I am scheduled to review. This list is supplementary to previous lists in this “Quests and Anticipations” series of selected operas being performed from July, 2014 through February, 2015. These are Bizet’s “Carmen” in Santa Fe and … Read more
This feature highlights selected performances of the Puccini operas at the Glimmerglass Festival and the San Francisco and San Diego Operas I am scheduled to review. This list is supplementary to previous lists in this “Quests and Anticipations” series of selected operas being performed from July, 2014 through February, 2015. These are Bizet’s “Carmen” in Santa Fe … Read more
The following conversation took place at the War Memorial Opera House in San Francisco. with the deeply appreciated facilitation of the San Francisco Opera. [Photo: Lyric tenor Saimir Pirgu; edited image of a Fadil Berisha photograph, courtesy of Saimir Pirgu.] Wm: Saimir, this is my first opportunity to congratulate you on your Edgardo … 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
The John Copley production of Verdi’s “La Traviata” with elegant sets by John Conklin returned to the War Memorial Opera House, after an absence of a decade. [Below: the John Conklin sets for Act I, set in Violetta’s Parisian apartments; edited image, based on a Cory Weaver photograph, courtesy of the San Francisco Opera.] The … Read more
The following conversation began at the Park Hyatt in Milan, Italy. Wm: John, I’m grateful to begin what I hope will be a series of conversations with you. [Below: John Pascoe; edited image of a photograph from www.johnpascoe.com.] Although I have been able to conduct interviews and conversations with many opera personalities, it’s most difficult to … Read more
The following interview was conducted in the administrative offices of the San Diego Opera, whose facilitation of this interview is deeply appreciated. [Below: Lyric tenor Giuseppe Filianoti; edited image, based on an Arielle Doneson portrait photograph, courtesy of giuseppefiianoti.com.] Wm: What were your earliest memories of music? GF: I believe I was born with … Read more
San Francisco became the fourth city – after Chicago, Houston and Washington D.C. – visited by the Francesca Zambello production of Jerome Kern’s 1927 blockbuster musical “Show Boat”. I had previously reported on its opening run at the in Chicago [see Team Zambello Shows off “Show Boat” to Chicago’s Lyric Opera – March 14, 2012]. Even … Read more
