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Exploratorium | San Francisco Opera
Un Ballo in Maschera | Barber of Seville | Carmen | La Favorite | Lucia di Lammermoor | Norma | Madam Butterfly | Manon | Salome | Turandot
My husband, Don, and I loved our 1998-1999 Opera Season subscription. The seats were great and I'm really excited to get our subscription for the next season! As I have done with previous operas, I'll write my reviews and post them here.
September 14, 1999: Giuseppi Verdi's Un Ballo in Macshera, performed at the War Memorial Opera House, proved what I had suspected from Norma. Carol Vaness can sing quite well indeed. Turns out that it was the score itself which had turned me off to her singing, for when I heard her in this opera, I could finally appreciate her voice. I also enjoyed hearing Tracy Dahl as Oscar, the pageboy. In addition to the singing, I enjoyed the story of the opera, particularly one scene where members of the court remarked what a scandal it was for a certain Count to be found out late at night with his own wife! Those present sing a laughing piece that my husband and I have used a few times just for effect.
October 18, 1996: Don and I went to the Opera and saw Gioachino Rossini's Il Barbiere de Siviglia at the Orpheum Theatre in San Francisco. I loved it! It was my first Comic Opera, and I laughed aloud many times. The singers had fun with the piece, and it really showed. I found the premise quite silly, and yet joyful and wild. This production included several anacronisms which added to the hilarity of the performance. I thought Rosina ( Mika Shigematsu, mezzo-soprano) sang beautifully, and added a charming and somewhat petulant style to the role. I recommend this as a "first opera" for those who are interested in going to the opera, but are afraid to try Wagner's Ring cycle!
November 8, 1996: Well, I was really looking forward to Georges Bizet's Carmen, and while I enjoyed it, it failed to meet my expectations. I think the biggest reason was Carmen herself. While the singing was pleasant enough, mezzo-soprano Olga Borodina sang with a certain melancholy which failed to fit my ideas about the vivacious Camencita. However, Don José ( José Cura, tenor) was fantastic. Even though he had a fever during the night Don and I saw the performance, he did fantastically well. My favorite singer in the opera, ( Mary Mills, soprano) played Micaëla. She has such a pure tone, and her prayer in the middle of Act III was the highlight of the evening. All in all, it was well done, but it fell short of stirling.
September 30, 1999: Don and I saw Gaetano Donizetti's opera, La Favorite, at the War Memorial Opera House in San Francisco. I'm quite the fan of Donizetti and I enjoyed hearing this opera sung in its original French rather than in the more commonly performed Italian. Fernand, well sung by tenor Marcello Giordani, took a dizzing turn from monastery to war to court to the alter, and back to the monastery. Overarching this transition through every scene change, we saw the religious statues from the first scene in the monastery, which I thought was a brilliant touch. This opera had me sitting in wonder at times, and I found the ballet absorbing since it reflected the underlying themes of the opera rather than, as often happens, being a small interlude where a lot of dancing occurs.
October 29, 1999: We loved Gaetano Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor, though that might be mostly because my favorite soprano, Ruth Ann Swenson, gilded the stage with her golden tones. Sometimes I get chills when she sings her coloratura trills, and I certainly did when she sang the "mad scene" near the end of the opera. Wow! But, as though that wasn't enough, the two male principles were also fantastic. Ramón Vargas sang the part of Edgardo, Lucia's forbidden love. He brought power and depth to the tenor role. Anthony Michaels-Moore sang the baritone Enrico, Lucia's power-hungry brother. It was certainly a feast for the ears. How lovely for us that this fell so close to our anniverary. Last year, we saw Manon on our anniversary, and Ruth Ann Swenson sang then, too. Perhaps this will become a tradition! I can only hope so.
January 16, 1999: Perhaps I'm spoiled by the San Francisco Opera's 1995-96 production, but I just didn't like this production nearly as well. First of all, the set left much to be desired. While the "moving screen" idea had some power, I missed the beautiful garden that represents so much of Butterfly's innocence, particular as she waits years for the robins to nest in America. In addition, this staging had one scene, just after Pinkerton and Butterfly are married and relatives have all gone, where Butterfly is expressing her nervousness. This scene can be poignant when handled well, but in this production, the addition of a huge bed as nearly the only prop on stage left nothing to the imagination. Pinkerton came across as a lust-ravaged tenor with not even the illusion of love and sentiment about him. I did like Susuki, however, and I thought Butterfly's performance worth listening to. Oddly enough, Pinkerton seemed to fade from the performance, and the Sharpless seemed to become the main male character. I have never noticed him as strongly as in this performance, which is the third time I have seen the opera.
November 1, 1998: To celebrate our first anniversary, my husband, Don, and I went to the Opera and saw Jules Massenet's Manon at the newly remodeled War Memorial Opera House in San Francisco. I knew nothing of this opera going into it, so I had no preconceived notions. I enjoyed it very much as an artful tale of the destructive power of lust for pleasure. Most of the singing, unfortunately, was fairly mediocre, and yet I think that was due more to the score than to the singers. The one exception centered on my fave soprano, Ruth Ann Swenson, whose music brought the house down. Still, the opera proved less perfect a vehicle for her voice than Hamlet, which allowed her coloratura to soar. (Oh, I wish I hadn't accidentally erased my review of Hamlet!)
November 21, 1998: I have rarely been disappointed by an opera, but Vincenzo Bellini's Norma just didn't do anything for me. I admit that might have been due to the singing, but I suspect I just didn't like the score very much. Still, the singing wasn't all that stellar. Soprano Carol Vaness had the title role, and while she solidly hit all the notes, her voice sounded too harsh to me. Perhaps the score required it, but it seems that all her high notes were sharply strident, and I longed for a little less tension in her tone. I much preferred soprano Anna Caterina Antonacci's performance of Adalgisa, the supporting role. My biggest disappointment came from the orchestra itself, conducted by Patrick Summers. The orchestra frequently played too loudly, drowing out the singers, the tenors in particular. I won't be too eager to see this production again.
January 24, 1997: Don, and I went to the Opera and saw Richard Strauss's Salome at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco. Whee! What a wicked opera! Karen Huffstodt, who played Salome, was amazing -- wonderful singing and dancing. Definite insanity. Herod was so sleazy I felt like bugs were crawling all over my body. Yuck! I also really liked Herodias' page, played by Zheng Cao. It's a very small part, but I thought she did a great job with it. Herodias ( Judith Forst) was imperious, arrogant, and pitiable.
December 4, 1998: Giacomo Puccini's Turandot thundered across the stage at the War Memorial Opera House, where we went to see it. Wow! Perhaps the most striking thing about the opera was the set design, which was accomplished by David Hockney His bold use of color, and the stricking angles to the set, provide a vivid backdrop for what is a fairly shocking opera. And it's the opera that stood out most of all for me. While I found the singing immenently competent, I found the opera more fascinating that usual. My only disappointment with this particular rendition of Turandot is that the orchestra, directed by Marco Armiliato, played too loudly, sometimes overshadowing the singers, particularly the lead tenor, Nicola Martinucci. The best singer, in my estimation and apparently the audience agreed to judge by applause, was soprano Norah Ansellem.
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| Page maintainer: | Lisa J. Roberts S*91 (lisa@drwob.com) |
| Last updated: | Fri Oct 15 19:32:47 PDT 1999 |
