The Opera Tattler

Subscribe to this blog's feed April 19, 2016 2015-2016 SEASON

Streetcar in San José NOTES ON Opera San José's Streetcar Svadba-Wedding in SF About * Notes * Opera San José's 2015-2016 season ends with a musically Eugene Onegin in Palo Alto SF Opera's Future Seasons impressive but dramatically wanting A Streetcar Named Champion in SF How Standing Room Works Desire (pictured left with Matthew Hanscom, Ariana Strahl, and Stacey Tappan; photograph by Pat Kirk), Carmen in San José which opened last weekend. The orchestra has never Rigoletto in Alameda OFFICIAL BLOGS OF WEST COAST sounded better and there is much fine singing, but the OPERA COMPANIES minimalist production is not completely successful. Usher Double Bill in SF Barbiere di Siviglia in SF Los Angeles Opera André Previn's opera, based on the famous play by Tennessee Williams, first premiered in the Bay Area nearly twenty years ago at San Francisco Opera. Meistersinger in SF Portland Opera The production at San José, designed and directed by Brad Dalton, features a Nozze di Figaro in San José San Diego Opera rather bare stage in front of the orchestra. The two rooms are represented by furniture -- a bed, two tables, and eighteen chairs -- that are moved around Lulu in NY San Francisco Opera by seven rough-looking male supernumeraries. Lucia (Shagimuratova) in SF Seattle Opera There isn't a good sense of what is inside and what is outside, it isn't clear Magic Flute (Bowden/Shafer) in SF Vancouver Opera what the supernumeraries are doing on stage besides changing the set (often unnecessarily, since much of the action simply happens in the same two Lucia (Sierra) in SF rooms) and echoing the look of Marlon Brando as Stanley Kowalski in stage and film versions of the play. Tosca in San José Sweeney Todd in SF The scenes that reference the upstairs of the building are especially problematic. The upstairs neighbor Eunice stands on a chair to represent her Luisa Miller in SF calling from above at one point, and at the end of Act I Stanley interacts with Eunice, Blanche, and Stella all upstage, but with him downstage facing the More Opera Reviews audience. Dalton also makes use of ghosts, having the young collector played by Xavier OPERA REVIEWS Prado stand in for Blanche's ill-fated husband and Teressa Foss (who also is cast as the nurse) wander through as one of Blanche's dead relatives. Perhaps Blogroll this is to re-enforce how crazy Blanche is, but it was more of a confusing SF Chronicle distraction than anything else. SF Classical Voice All this said, I do very much appreciate Dalton's creativity, and that he did not simply recreate the well-known set of the play or film. Having the orchestra behind the singers also worked very much in the piece's favor, the playing ARCHIVES never overwhelmed the voices. April 2016 Maestro Ming Luke had the orchestra sounding cohesive and perfectly in tune. March 2016 Despite the fact that the conductor was behind the singers, there was hardly any synchronization issues. The screens above the ground floor of the February 2016 audience used to cue the characters apparently worked very well. The jazzy January 2016 parts of Previn's music swung and sounded idiomatic. December 2015 The singing was excellent. Tenor Kirk Dougherty had the perfect amount of awkwardness for Harold "Mitch" Mitchell, and his scenes with Strahl were November 2015 convincing. On the other hand, baritone Matthew Hanscom lacked a certain October 2015 sexual dangerousness for the role of Stanley Kowalski. Though Hanscom's voice is strong, his performance comes off as cartoonish. September 2015 Soprano Stacey Tappan (Stella Kowalkski) had a strong Opera San Jose debut, August 2015 her voice is sweet and her post-coital hum at the end of Act I came off July 2015 beautifully. Soprano Ariana Strahl also had a fine debut with the role of Blanche DuBois, and sang with a devastating brilliance and incredible ease. More... Her clarion tones were a wonderful contrast to Tappan's, you could never mistake one for another. In the end the drama does come through in the music, Stahl portrays Blanche's harrowing experiences with conviction, and the performance was satisfying despite the flawed staging. Tattling * There was the usual light chatter when the orchestra played but no one was singing. A watch alarm was heard in the last act.

07:43 AM in Opera Review, Opera San José | Permalink | Comments (0)

April 18, 2016 San Diego Opera 2016-2017 Season

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October 22-30 2016: La Cenerentola November 11-13 2016: David T. Little's Soldier Songs February 18-26 2017: Falstaff March 10-12 2017: Peter Brook's La tragèdie de Carmen April 22-30 2017: La traviata The 2016-2017 season at San Diego Opera was announced April 16. 2016-2017 Season | Official Site

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April 03, 2016 SF Opera's Svadba-Wedding * Notes * SF Opera Lab had its first new production premiere last night with Svadba-Wedding last night. The a cappella opera for six female voices by Serbian Canadian composer Ana Sokolović is the perfect scale for the Atrium Theater and director Michael Cavanagh's made use of the whole space. Sokolović's opera is pretty without being cloying, the Balkan rhythms employed hold much interest. This is much closer to being avant-garde than most of the world premieres we've heard at the War Memorial in the last decade. There were moments when the music reminded me of Kitka, but Sokolović has a very charming and peculiar point of view. Often there is much humor in the onomatopoeic sounds the singers produce. The piece is short, a mere 60 minutes, but has a timelessness to it, and not at all in a bad way. There are many instruments used by the singers including metal drinking cups with chains and spoons; tom-tom drum; gong; rainsticks, and ocarinas (ancient wind instruments). The voices have a haunting quality, there seemed to be three sopranos and three mezzo-sopranos. The singing was clear and had an immediacy in the small room. Cavanagh's staging uses a central round platform and five other littler platforms all around the room. The audience is seated at round tables, much like a wedding reception. Tattling * It was hard for the audience members to talk much, given how immersive the performance was, and how the singers basically surrounded us at different moments. After the performance was an actual reception, complete with croquembouche, champagne, and a DJ.

07:53 PM in Opera Review, San Francisco Opera, SF Opera Lab | Permalink | Comments (1)

March 28, 2016 SoundBox's Outré * Notes * SoundBox's latest program, titled Outré, featured French avant-garde music over seven centuries. Beautifully curated, the engaging music ranged from Pérotin's polyphonic Sederunt principes with a cappella male voices and portative organ to Messiaen's Couleurs de la cité celeste for solo piano and instrumental ensemble, including the many gongs seen in the photograph to the left. lead the musicians and amiably talked the audience through the pieces one by one. Selections from Jean-Féry Rebel's Les élémens was a cheerful place to start, and the sprightly French Baroque music was such fun. This certainly set the stage for the program to come. It was lovely to hear the musicians of in this more intimate venue. Principal oboist Eugene Izotov played Ravel's Pièce en forme de Habanera and Saint-Saëns' Molto allegro from Oboe Sonata in D major, while principal flutist Tim Day played Debussy's Syrinx. Principal percussionist Jacob Nissly especially impressed in Darius Milhaud's Concerto for Percussion and Small Orchestra, Opus 109. Ending with an excerpt of Milhaud's Scaramouche was a festive touch. The French-inspired garden installation designed by Luke Kritzeck with a digital reflecting pool by video designer Adam Larsen was rather pretty. The videos

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during the music did not distract but did not look like screensavers either. Tattling * The youngish audience was mostly quiet. There seats are not guaranteed for these sold-out events and we were lucky enough to find a friend in line just before 8pm. Those who did not line up mostly milled about at the back of the venue, though a couple did stand directly in front of my date (we were seated by the west side of the first stage) for the second set.

02:50 PM in Michael Tilson Thomas, San Francisco Symphony, SoundBox | Permalink | Comments (0)

March 15, 2016 Kentridge's Winterreise * Notes * SF Opera Lab began with visual artist William Kentridge's production of Winterreise last weekend. His beautiful meditations on Schubert's Lieder are deeply immersive and the incredible performers, baritone Matthias Goerne and pianist Markus Hinterhäuser though very talented, seemed almost incidental to the work. The effect Kentridge gets with mostly black and white projections on a surface layered with paper is compelling, so much so that it was hard for me to focus in on the music. The landscapes and figures dancing or walking across dictionary pages completely held my attention for the 80 minute performance, which seemed much shorter to me. Goerne has an absolutely gorgeous voice, vital and strong, but I was glad I had heard him before, because in this it might have been lost on me. The sound in the Taube Atrium Theater seemed properly adjusted, some of the weird echoey effects noticed at Daniel Okulitch's Schwabacher were not in evidence. Tattling * The audience was quiet. We were asked to look at our programs before the performance began and the lights were kept off, so browsing the translations was not a true option. The much-touted cup holders were not in use, as we were asked to not bring beverages into the hall for this performance.

02:25 PM in Matthias Goerne, Recital Review, SF Opera Lab, William Kentridge | Permalink | Comments (4)

March 10, 2016 SF Opera Lab Preview My preview of San Francisco Opera's series at the Taube Atrium Theater and new audience initiatives for classical music organizations such as SoundBox, PIVOT, and Berkeley RADICAL is up on KQED Arts. I heard no less than three performances at the Wilsey Center for Opera: the first iteration of ChamberWORKS that I already described, an Adler recital for donors, and the second Schwabacher recital in the space, which featured bass-baritone Daniel Okulitch and pianist John Churchwell. Definitely curious about the William Kentridge production of Winterreise this weekend to be held as the first official event of SF Opera Lab.

08:29 AM in San Francisco Opera, SoundBox | Permalink | Comments (0)

March 07, 2016 Opera San José's 2016-2017 Season September 10–25 2016: Lucia di Lammermoor November 12–26 2016: Il barbiere di Siviglia February 8–24 2017: Kevin Puts' Silent Night April 15–30 2017: La bohème There are four operas scheduled for next season at Opera San José, including the West Coast premiere of Kevin Put's Silent Night.

02:06 PM in 2016-2017 Season Previews, Opera San José | Permalink | Comments (0)

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March 01, 2016 SF Symphony's 2016-2017 Season September 7 2016: MTT conducts Steve Reich, Rossini; Renée Fleming, soprano and Susan Graham, mezzo-soprano September 8 2016: MTT conducts Copland, Vivaldi, Rossini; Susanna Phillips, soprano and Alexander Barantschik, violin September 9-10 2016: MTT conducts Copland, Reich; Susanna Phillips, soprano and eighth blackbird, chamber ensemble September 11 2016: MTT conducts Steve Reich 80th Birthday Celebration September 14-17 2016: MTT conducts Haydn, Sibelius, Beethoven September 18 2016: MTT conducts Beethoven Discovery Concert September 22-24 2016: MTT conducts Marcello, Berio, Verdi; Michael Fabiano, tenor; Swingle Singers, vocal ensemble; Eugene Izotov, oboe September 28- October 1 2016: MTT conducts Bright Sheng, Shostakovich, Stravinsky; Yuja Wang, piano; Mark Inouye, trumpet October 9 2016: Vincent Dubois, organ October 13-15 2016: Brad Lubman conducts 2001: A Space Odyssey October 16 2016: Chamber Music with members of SFS October 19-22 2016: Pablo Heras-Casado conducts Mozart, Schumann, Dvořák; Alisa Weilerstein, cello October 23 2016: Chamber Music with members of SFS October 27-30 2016: MTT conducts Allegri, Mozart, Brahms; Rudolph Buchbinder, piano; Pacific Boychoir October 31- November 1 2016: Gustavo Dudamel conducts Orchestra November 2-4 2016: MTT conducts Chopin and Bruckner; Yuja Wang, piano November 5 2016: Día de los Muertos Concert November 6 2016: Jacek Kaspszyki conducts Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra; Yulianna Avdeevat, piano November 9-22 2016: Asia Tour with Yuja Wang November 20 2016: Christian Reif conducts SFS Youth Orchestra November 22-23 2016: Simon Rattle conducts Berlin Philharmonic December 3 2016: Edwin Outwater conducts Music for Families December 4 2016: Chamber Music with members of SFS December 4 2016: Yu Long conducts China Philharmonic Orchestra; Julian Rachlin, violin December 9-10 2016: SoundBox December 11 2016: Christian Reif conducts SFS Youth Orchestra in Peter and the Wolf December 11 2016: A Merri-achi Christmas December 15-17 2016: Patrick Dupré Quigley conducts Messiah January 7-8 2017: David Newman conducts On the Waterfront January 13-15 2017: MTT conducts Mahler January 16 2017: Itzak Perlman, violin & Rohan De Silva, piano January 21-24 2016: James Gaffigan conducts Musssorgsky, Prokofiev, Mozart, and R. Strauss; Simone Lamsma, violin January 20-21 2017: SoundBox January 26-28 2017: Lionel Bringuier conducts Kodály, Ravel, Beethoven; Jean- Yves Thibaudet, piano January 28 2017: Edwin Outwater conducts Music for Families January 29 2017: Chamber Music with members of SFS January 29 2017: Emmanuel Villaume conducts Prague Philharmonia; Gautier Capuçon, cello February 1-3 2017: Herbert Blomstedi conducts Beethoven February 4 2017: Chinese New Year Concert February 5 2017: Chamber Music with members of SFS February 7 2017: Lang Lang, piano February 9-12 2017: Herbert Blomstedt conducts Beethoven and Brahms; , piano February 10-11 2017: SoundBox February 16-18 2017: Joana Carneiro conducts John Adams' The Gospel According to the Other Mary February 19 2017: Chamber Music with members of SFS February 22-25 2017: MTT conducts John Adams, Prokofiev; Leila Josefowicz, violin February 26 2017: James O'Donnell, organ March 1-4 2017: MTT conducts Gnesin, Shostakovich, Tchaikovsky; Gautier Capuçon, cello March 5 2017: Christian Reif conducts SFS Youth Orchestra March 9-12 2017: Marek Janowski conducts Beethoven, Hindemith, Brahms; Arabella Steinbacher, violin March 10-11 2017: SoundBox March 13 2017: András Schiff, piano March 16-18 2017: Juraj Valčuha conducts Schreker, Barber, Beethoven; Gil Shaham, violin March 18 2017: Christian Reif conducts Music for Families March 19 2017: Chamber Music with members of SFS March 19-20 2017: Yuri Temirkanov conducts St. Petersburg Philharmonic March 23-24 2017: MTT conducts Cage, Robin Holloway, Bartók; Jeffrey Anderson, tuba March 25-26 2017: MTT conducts Cage, Bruch, Bartók; Nicola Benedetti, violin March 26 2017: Anne-Sophie Mutter, violin and Lambert Orkis, piano

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March 30- April 2 2017: MTT conducts Mahler April 2-3 2017: Fabio Luisi conducts Danish National Orchestra April 5-8 2017: US Tour April 7 2017: Ragnar Bohlin conducts San Francisco Symphony Chorus April 14-15 2017: SoundBox April 14-15 2017: Emil de Cou conducts Raiders of the Lost Ark April 19-22 2017: Andrés Orozco-Estrada conducts Prokofiev and Rachmaninoff; Denis Kozhukhin, piano April 27-29 2017: Fabio Luisi conducts Schumann and R. Strauss; Igor Levit, piano April 30 2017: Chamber Music with members of SFS May 4-6 2017: Charles Dutoit conducts Berlioz's Requiem; Paul Groves, tenor May 7 2017: Chamber Music with members of SFS May 10-13 2017: Charles Dutoit conducts Sibelius, Mozart, Falla, Debussy; , piano May 14 2017: Christian Reif conducts SFS Youth Orchestra May 17-21 2017: Roberto Abbado conducts Schumann and Mendelssohn; Veronika Eberle, violin May 25-27 2017: Manfred Honeck conducts Shostakovich and Tchaikovsky; Matthias Goerne, baritone May 28 2017: Chamber Music with members of SFS May 31- June 1 2017: Alexander Barantschik, violin leads Vivaldi, Mozart, J.S. Bach June 2-3 2017: Sarah Hicks conducts Casablanca June 3 2017: Christian Reif conducts Music for Families June 4 2017: Wayne Marshall, organ June 9-11 2017: Susanna Mälkki conducts Debussy, Beethoven, Stravinsky; Garrick Ohlsson, piano June 15-18 2017: Vasily Petrenko conducts Glinka, Lalo, Rachmaninoff; Joshua Bell, violin June 23-25 2017: MTT conducts Ives, MTT, Harrison, Antheil; Measha Brueggergosman, mezzo-soprano June 28- July 1 2017: MTT conducts Berlioz's Roméo et Juliette; Sasha Cooke, mezzo-soprano; Nicholas Phan, tenor; and Luca Pisaroni, bass-baritone

09:11 PM in 2016-2017 Season Previews, San Francisco Symphony | Permalink | Comments (0)

February 29, 2016 ABS Performs Alexander's Feast * Notes * American Bach Soloists gave a splendid performance of the fittingly titled Alexander's Feast, or The Power of Music yesterday afternoon in San Francisco. The oratorio by Händel is adapted from John Dryden's ode for Saint Cecilia's Day of the same name. ABS was played with the composer's Concerto in B-Flat Major for Harp after the second recitative and Concerto Grosso in C Major before Part Two. The harp concerto was especially impressive. Maria Christina Cleary played the triple harp with a fearless and sparkling intensity. Maestro Jeffrey Thomas kept the proceedings clean and neat. Only the horns had a brief misstep in the middle of the first half, but regained their footing as far as intonation is concerned. The chorus sounded robust and cohesive. Tenor Aaron Sheehan sounded bright and had some incredible breath control as was evidenced by his first air, "Happy, Happy, happy Pair!" He was fittingly strident in "War, he sung, is Toil and trouble." I also liked soprano Anna Gorbachyova, who has an icy, resonant sound. Baritone William Sharp could be gravelly and thin in his lower register but was otherwise fine. * Tattling * The rows and seats in the balcony of St. Mark's were unmarked because of a problem with a printer, leading to a fair amount of confusion that was resolved by a helpful usher. Beeps and rings were heard during both halves of the performance.

09:11 PM in American Bach Soloists, Concert Review | Permalink | Comments (4)

February 28, 2016 Atrium Theater's Inaugural Event * Notes * SF Opera Lab held the first event at the new Taube Atrium Theater last night. The evening was open to certain San Francisco Opera donors but involved having to call the box office to reserve tickets, as the space only

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has 299 seats. The theater is part of the Diane B. Wilsey Center for Opera, which consolidates SF Opera's operations on the fourth floor and basement of the Veterans Building. The space, which originally housed SFMOMA, includes an education studio that can also be used as a rehearsal venue, a costume studio, the San Francisco Opera Archive, exhibition galleries, and administrative offices. The opera moved in two weeks ago, though not everything is quite done, there has been painting and such in the interim. The performance ended up being a salon curated by members of the San Francisco Opera Orchestra, part of SF Opera Lab's ChamberWORKS series. The intimate setting had a casual feel, performers addressed the audience and introduced many of the pieces. There was no printed program, instead titles were projected over digital wallpapers from the Cooper Hewitt. The performance started with cellist Thalia Moore playing Vivaldi's Sonata No. 6 in B flat major, RV 46 accompanied by Adler Fellow Ronny Michael Greenberg on harpsichord who were joined by flutist Stephanie McNab, percussionist Rick Kvistad, and mezzo-soprano Adler Zanda Švēde, who sang a setting of ten Shakespeare sonnets to music by Pauls Miervaldis Dambis. Dambis seems to have a penchant for the Renaissance, hence the harpsichord rather than the piano. Greenberg did shift to playing piano, and one of the highlights of the evening was certainly Robert Muczynski's Sonata for Flute and Piano Op. 14. Played with verve by Stephanie McNab, Greenberg's playing was crisp and supportive. We also got to hear a piece of Kvistad's called "Blues for Wilsey," in which the percussionist plays a drum set along with the other musicians playing their respective instruments. Greenberg played piano in this and McNab played both flute and piccolo. The performance was capped by the Habanera and Seguidilla from Bizet's Carmen, accompaniment arranged for vibes, cello, flute, and piano by Peter Grunberg. Švēde is brilliant, getting the emotional import of all the words through her voice. She made her entrance through the audience, and it was a testament to how great the Meyer Sound system is, because it sounded nicely balanced -- not too loud or dry. * Tattling * The audience was extremely focused and quiet. It was fun hearing the musicians speak, especially Kvistad, who joked the more he studied music, the less notes he was allowed to play, especially at the opera, where he must be the highest paid musician per note. The theater can get rather warm, and the controls to the AC system have apparently not been handed over to the opera yet, as we learned from the Q&A with the performers and Elkhanah Pulitzer, Director of Programming for the SF Opera Lab (pictured above). Also, one of the lenses of the projection system needs replacement, most of the images were pretty blurry.

10:31 AM in Adler Fellowship Program, San Francisco Opera, SF Opera Lab | Permalink | Comments (0)

February 23, 2016 West Bay Opera's Eugene Onegin * Notes * My review of West Bay Opera's Eugene Onegin is up on San Francisco Classical Voice. * Tattling * The Lucie Stern Community Center was secured for much of the performance on Sunday because Hillary Clinton was having an event there while the opera was going on. The general director of West Bay Opera joked that he had asked Hillary for a "Secretary of Opera" if she wins the election.

01:14 PM in Opera Review, West Bay Opera | Permalink | Comments (0)

February 20, 2016 Opera Parallèle's Champion * Notes *

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Champion: An Opera in Jazz had an impressive opening last night in San Francisco. As always, Opera Parallèle, which co-produced the 2013 work with SFJAZZ, gave an impeccable performance as far as playing, singing, and production values. Based on the life of bisexual boxer Emile Griffith, Terence Blanchard's music has much to recommend it, but it is hardly a perfect work and the libretto from Michael Cristofer can sound trite. The piece shifts from different time periods, so there are three singers that play Emile Griffith, often even at the same time as the character remembers his past. All of the singers are very compelling. Bass Arthur Woodley is Griffith as an elderly man suffering from dementia, his voice is warm and rich, and his performance is sympathetic and haunting. Bass-baritone Kenneth Kellogg as Griffith in his prime has a lighter sound, but is no less convincing. Sharing the role of Little Emile with Evan Holloway, Moses Abrahamson sounded utterly angelic. Everyone else was fantastic as well, including the twelve person chorus that played paraders, reporters, and boxing fans. Standouts included Robert Orth as Emile's trainer Howie Albert and Karen Slack as his mother Emelda Griffith. The way both of these singers wholly embodied their characters was completely convincing. Maestra Nicole Paiement seamlessly conducted a small orchestra of twenty-six and a jazz trio. The music has some wonderful percussion, and the upbeat ensembles were particularly good, including a trio from Kellogg, Slack and Orth in Act I. The drama is weirdly static perhaps because we are seeing much of the action through a main character that clearly has brain disease. The pacing could be sluggish, making the opera, which is only 145 minutes of music, feel long, perhaps because some of the words did not sit well with the vocal lines. Director Brian Staufenbiel has created a characteristically stylish production, using layered platforms and screens to dazzling effect. The video projections took us through the ten scenes without being overwhelming, cheesy, or confusing. * Tattling * There was a small child (apparently a student of percussion) in the audience two rows ahead of me (Row H Seat 18 or thereabouts) that managed to be quiet the entire opera.

04:14 PM in Opera Parallèle, Opera Review | Permalink | Comments (0)

February 17, 2016 Met Opera's 2016-17 Season September 26- October 27 2016 : Tristan und Isolde September 27 2016- May 11 2017: Don Giovanni September 28 2016- January 14 2017: La Bohème October 4-29 2016: L'Italiana in Algeri October 18- November 12 2016: Guillaume Tell October 28- November 17 2016: Jenufa November 5 2016- April 20 2017: Aida November 14- December 10 2016: Manon Lescaut December 1-29 2016: L'Amour de Loin December 5-28 2016: Salome December 12 2016- January 7 2017: Nabucco December 20 2016- January 5 2017: The Magic Flute December 31 2016- March 18 2017: Roméo et Juliette January 9-February 11 2017: Il Barbiere di Siviglia January 20-April 27 2017: Rigoletto February 2- March 2 2017: Rusalka February 10-28 2017: Il Puritani February 16- March 9 2017: Werther February 24- April 14 2017: La Traviata March 6-25 2017: Idomeneo March 16- April 8 2017: Fidelio March 30- April 22 2017: Eugene Onegin April 13- May 13 2017: Der Rosenkavalier April 25- May 12 2017: Der Fliegende Holländer May 2-13 2017: Cyrano de Bergerac The Met announced the 2016-2017 season today. There will be 225 performances of 26 operas, including six new productions. The new productions are Tristan und Isolde, Guillaume Tell, L'Amour de Loin, Roméo et Juliette, Rusalka, and Der Rosenkavalier. Online 2016-2017 Brochure | Official Site

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February 16, 2016 Opera San José's Carmen * Notes * My review of Opera San José's Carmen is up on San Francisco Classical Voice. * Tattling * The audience was very happy for this performance, though it was odd to note someone behind me on the orchestra level that was surprised the opera is in French.

01:20 PM in Carmen, Opera Review, Opera San José | Permalink | Comments (0)

February 09, 2016 SF Symphony Vertigo Preview San Francisco Symphony presenting Hitchcock's Vertigo with the score being played live by the orchestra this Friday and Saturday. We spoke to SF Symphony's Associate Director of Artistic Planning Richard Lonsdorf, who programmed the film series. There have often been silent films with the scores played live around Halloween for some years, but The San Francisco Symphony film series started in 2013-14, was it with the Hitchcock film week? How did this come about? The film series came about for a few reasons, first and foremost out of a desire to find new audiences and bring some more multimedia elements to the symphony experience. Around this time, many of the independent producers we work with were beginning to develop symphonic film projects, so it seemed possible to put a stake in the ground around films with orchestra as an "evergreen" project. There were a critical mass of Hitchcock titles back in 2013, so that was a great place to start. Hitchcock was also famous for making the music a central character in his narratives, which comes off beautifully in this context. The available titles have only grown since then, so it's an exciting project every year to whittle them down into the ones we select for our audiences. What is the place of a film series like this in the larger scope of the San Francisco Symphony season? Is it meant to draw a different audience than the typical classical music concert goer? We do hope to find new audiences with this series, and so far, it seems we have! The way I see it, for people who are unfamiliar with symphonic repertoire, connecting our wonderful orchestra to a beloved film with a great score is a perfect "first step" for someone to come and see us. We know they'll come away with a great experience and a familiarity with what a visit to the Symphony entails, which leads to less of a "threshold fear" about visiting us in the future. Are there specific reasons you are revisiting Vertigo beyond the obvious fact that it is set in San Francisco? Its San Francisco setting is the main reason it's coming back so soon! It's also one of the best film scores of all time and a great film overall, but much like we revisit favorite classical masterworks from time to time, I think it's appropriate to have a few local favorite films reappear. I'm certainly excited to see and hear it again! Are there particular technical challenges with having the Symphony play with a film that isn't silent and usually isn't accompanied by a live orchestra? There's a lot of technical wizardry involved in scrubbing the soundtrack from the film print so that we are just left with the dialogue and sound effects, and honestly, I'm far from the best person to articulate exactly how that is achieved! But once you have a "clean" print, there are a series of visual signals the conductor follows on a special screen by the podium (you can watch for these during the performances), in addition to a "click track" (or metronome pulse) in the ears of all the players for certain projects. These technologies were all developed to help synchronize the orchestra with the film and are in fact very similar to how films scores are recorded in the studio as well. It's delightful that Kim Novak is going to be at Davies for a pre-concert conversation with Steven Winn. How did you convince her to speak before the presentation? She approached us, actually! She doesn't live too far from the Bay Area, and so she got in touch about attending the screenings (the second performance falls on her birthday). Our conversation evolved into sharing some of her experiences with our audiences, and Steven Winn is the perfect moderator for

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that conversation. We all think it will be great fun and an exciting opportunity to hear from a legendary actress about an iconic film.

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