Reviews, appreciation and analysis of all things opera
Over the past few years, I have attended live performances of the operas of Giuseppe Verdi, with particular interest in how those performances compare with those of what some appear to regard as a recent “Golden Age”, in which significant numbers of top rank Verdi singers were available to the world’s opera companies. Fortunately, having … Read more
This interview was conducted in Maestro Conlon’s office at the Los Angeles Opera, whose facilitation is gratefully acknowledged: ***** [Below: Maestro James Conlon; resized image, based on a photograph, courtesy of the Los Angeles Opera.] Wm: Many of the American vocal artists I have interviewed did not choose musical careers until well into their college … Read more
German tenor Jonas Kaufmann is a sure box office draw in the major opera houses of Europe. Now in his early 40s, with a young family, his activities are centered in the likes of Munich, Berlin, Bayreuth, London, Zurich, Vienna and Paris. In fact, since his foray into Chicago as des Grieux in Massenet’s “Manon” … Read more
In Greek mythology, as told us by Ovid and by Sophocles in his play ‘The Women of Trachis,’ the centaur Nessos raped Hercules’ second wife, Dejanira, and Hercules mortally wounded Nessos in revenge. The dying centaur tricked Dejanira into believing that if she saved his blood, it could be re-used as a kind of love … Read more
Lyric Opera scheduled two runs of Bizet’s “Carmen” for its 2010-2011 season, in October and in March. The March performances paired the Bulgarian mezzo-soprano Nadia Krasteva as Carmen with American tenor Brandon Jovanovich as Don Jose. At this stage of their careers, both assignments are signature roles for the two artists. I have previously remarked … Read more
The Los Angeles Opera is only mounting six mainstage operas for its 2010-11 season, but of these six the company mounted works by three composers whose bicentennial or centennial years will be celebrated in 2013. Wagner and Verdi were represented by popular core works, respectively “Lohengrin” and “Rigoletto”, but to honor Britten, Los Angeles Opera … Read more
Our guest commentator (and historian of the San Francisco Opera) Arthur Bloomfield writes: Time to review another of the protein-rich San Francisco Opera seasons from the final years of Kurt Herbert Adler’s long reign as the company’s all-seeing general director, that veritable eagle of Van Ness Avenue. Listening again to the 1979 broadcasts, where to begin? … Read more
The facilitation of this interview with Coloratura Soprano Sarah Coburn by the Los Angeles and Seattle Operas is gratefully acknowledged. ***** Wm: It might surprise the operatic world as to how many international opera stars hail from the U.S.A.’s Central Plains states. We know that Leona Mitchell discovered she had a voice as a young … Read more
There are two principal reasons why an opera company might invest in a new production of an opera never before seen in its community. The first is as a vehicle for displaying the talents of a particular artist. The second is the conviction that the repertory of that company should be expanded to include that … Read more
Los Angeles, a town that knows how to party, dubbed the third Saturday of February 2011 as the first day of an All-Star Weekend, because the City of the Angels was chosen as the site of the 2011 National Basketball Association All-Star Game. The Big Game was to be played at the Staples Center, just … Read more
Over the past five and half years, in my reviews of opera performances, I have identified certain productions as particularly worthy of revival, and periodically list opera companies that have scheduled such revivals (in many cases, the first time the production has been mounted at that company). In the past I identified seven productions as … Read more
During 2011, the most popular French opera, Bizet’s “Carmen”, is scheduled to have 340 performances worldwide in 64 productions in 60 cities. In the United States alone “Carmen” as seen at the New York Met (January) and will be performed at the Lyric Opera in Chicago (March), Indianapolis (March), Nashville (April), Opera Colorado (Summer), Glimmerglass … Read more
San Diego Opera’s 2011 season opened with a production of Puccini’s “Turandot”, utilizing David Hockney’s luxuriously colorful sets and Ian Falconer’s exotic costumes, with a strong cast, each of whom met the vocal demands of their role. These “Turandot” sets and costumes, first seen at Lyric Opera in Chicago, were a co-production between the Chicago … Read more
This web-post continues previous discussions about the expansion of opera’s standard repertory. (See Opera in Live Performance, Thoughts and Assessments at the End of 2010, Part One and Opera in Live Performance, Thoughts and Assessments at the End of 2010, Part Two.) Preparing for the Verdi Bicentennial We are just over 23 months from the … Read more
This web-post continues previous discussions about the expansion of opera’s standard repertory. (See Opera in Live Performance, Thoughts and Assessments at the End of 2010, Part One.) Most observers of the contemporary state of opera performance will concede that Bizet’s “Carmen” is the most durable representative of the French repertory, and I have argued that … Read more
[William: This is the second part of an interview, most of which was conducted in June 2010 in the Press Room of the War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco, with supplementary information provided through recent communications between William and Mr Delavan. The first part of the interview can be accessed at The Dawning of a New Wotan: … Read more
[William – This is the second part of an interview with bass-baritone John Relyea, most of which took place at the War Memorial Opera House in San Francisco in June, 2010. For the first part, see: Rising Stars: An Interview With John Relyea, Part 1.] Wm: Recently, you have become associated with the “villain” roles, … Read more
Here is the fifth in Arthur Bloomfield’s occasional series of Time Machine trips into the world of opera three or four generations ago, focusing on the conductors’ art. As Maestro Fausto Cleva once said on the Met Opera Quiz, in answer to the question “Who is the most important person in an opera performance?”, “The … Read more
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 five such observances of performances from the company’s 1960 Fall season. The standard repertory of opera is disproportionately represented by the output … Read more
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 fiourth of five such observances of performances from the company’s 1960 Fall season. The first Italian opera that I had experienced in live performance … Read more
In past years, Tom’s Tips have featured such diverse holiday fare as the Bracebridge Dinner during Christmas Week at Yosemite National Park and “Phantom of the Opera” performances in Las Vegas. This year, he will highlight a production of Menotti’s Christmas opera “Amahl and the Night Visitors”, performed by the newly formed Intimate Opera Company … Read more
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 1960 Fall season. I have already noted 1960 performances of Puccini’s “Fanciulla del West … Read more
Note from William: Since 2006, at the end of each calendar year concurrent with the David Gockley administration at the San Francisco Opera, I have given letter grades to each of the productions performed by the company that year. The criteria are simple. An “A” reflects a musical and theatrical performance and production that would … Read more
[Note from William: The second part of my interview with basso cantante Raymond Aceto took place in San Diego at the administrative offices of the San Diego Opera, where he was appearing as Zaccaria in Verdi’s “Nabucco” and in London, England, where he was performing Sparafucile in Verdi’s “Rigoletto” at the Royal Opera House, Covent … Read more
