San Francisco Opera: Falstaff

A post on SFO's Falstaff is here:
http://abeastinajungle.com/2013/10/31/san-francisco-opera-falstaff/

San Francisco Opera's Dutchman: Flotsam and Jetsam

Wagner's Der fliegende Holländer (The Flying Dutchman) holds a unique place in the composer's body of work: it's easily the most of accessible of his major operas, containing set pieces, arias, duets and other trappings that fit well within the casual fan's expectations, including a relatively straightforward, familiar-feeling plot. There aren't any rings, knights, swans, grails, Gibichungs, and other strange and alienating elements to deal with. There's no incest taking place and no convoluted family trees of  gods to figure out. Musically it's also unique in that it has actual tunes which stick in one's head after hearing it as well as a healthy dose of  what makes Wagner's music so, well, Wagnerian. It's his one opera that can easily entertain and educate newcomers to his music as well as deliver the goods to the die-hard Wagner freaks. If Dutchman were a Woody Allen film (and wouldn't Wagner love that analogy?) it would be Sleeper- a classic in its own right, but one that only hints at what's to come. But despite all it has going for it, it's not bullet-proof, and the current San Francisco Opera production which set sail Tuesday night at the War Memorial felt like sitting through Shadows and Fog- a lot of assembled talent used to very little effect.

It obviously didn't help matters when General Director David Gockley fired the director and set designer Petrika Ionesco a week before opening night for murky reasons which reek of the usual "artistic differences," but that reason doesn't quite add up because it's a co-production with Belgium’s Opera Royal de Wallonie, which premiered in Liege in 2011, with- that's right, Ionesco at the helm. So what gives? If it sucked in Liege, wouldn't Gockley know that way before last week? Like two years ago?  I don't pretend to know how these things work, but it can't be all that complicated and one wonders why these things weren't ironed out beforehand if Gockley felt elements of the Liege version weren't suitable for the provincial sensibilities of San Francisco (by the way, as I mentioned in yesterday's post, what I found online of the Liege production looks pretty damn good). From the audience's perspective it's hard to know the exact toll axing Ionesco has had on the production, but it's undoubtedly had a domino effect and even elements of the production which aren't up to snuff (the costumes by Lili Kendaka either irritate or bore, depending on the scene) that may have had little to do with it become tainted by the contretemps, I've already heard of it being referred to as "Dutchgate."

Things go awry from the very beginning when one of the most thrilling overtures ever written for an opera got an unexpectedly slapdash treatment from the pit under conductor Patrick Summers. It sounded like there was never a rehearsal. The brass bleated where they should have blared, winds came in late, and the immense sweeping waves of sound which should have filled the house came across as mere ripples. While this disappointment was taking place, Senta, played by Lise Lindstrom in her company debut, stood atop a house, gazing at a portrait of the Dutchman's eyes while a stormy sea was projected behind her. The sea turned to a large close-up of the Dutchman's closed eyes, and the effect was kind of disgusting, akin to looking at a poorly executed knock-off of a Chuck Close self-portrait that turns a lurid blood-red like something out of a Dario Argento movie. Wrongly, the impression it made is that Senta, in her demure Laura Ingalls Wilder dress, was a naive character out of a Bronte  novel (either sister will do), instead of a woman whose strange inner demons manifest themselves in obsessions with morbid legends. It's a very long eleven or twelve minutes with no payoff, unless you have a fetish for cinematic storm scenes or are a fan of V.C. Andrews.

Adler Fellow A. J. Gleukert, as the Steersman, sang his ditty of desire at the beginning of Act 1 extremely well- his voice was clear if not particularly big enough for the house, and though his diction wasn't precise (a problem with most of the cast for most of the night), his tone hit the right spot. Kristinn Sigmundsson's Daland bothered me the entire the evening, not because of his singing, which was fine, but there was an eagerness in his performance that made Daland, who is not a sympathetic father-figure type even in the most nuanced portrayals, flat-out loathsome, with an avarice that bordered on parodying a certain kind of stereotype one really doesn't want to bring up when discussing Wagner. Never mind that the character is supposed to be Norwegian.

Things got worse when the Dutchman wandered onstage looking like he somehow ended up here instead of an Iron Maiden concert. With his long, shiny black hair pulled into a ponytail, matching black goatee, and sleeveless black tee shirt revealing his well-honed biceps and apparently shaved armpits, topped off with a gold chain last seen when it was stolen from a B-boy back in 1983, Greer Grimsley looked absurdly out of place. Thankfully he can sing the part, not that it really helped all that much because soon he would be sporting a long, slender-fitting, black trench coat, making him look like Rasputin at a Halloween party, but for a while the orchestra gelled a bit as he sang his extended tale of woe. Grimsly was in good voice, and in any other production would probably be well worth seeing in the role, which has long been part of his repertoire.  Things finally got good when a huge trapdoor rose to reveal the interior  the Dutchman's ship, filled with that same lurid red light which would return again and again, but here it cast a creepy glow on skeletons nesting in hammocks of cobwebs- perhaps too reminiscent of Disneyland's Pirates of the Caribbean ride, but fun nonetheless. It wouldn't re-appear, but that's because- well, I really don't know why- it reappeared in the Liege version. Daland happily pimps out his daughter in return for the Dutchman's gold, and then we have intermission.

That's right. Intermission. Never mind that there isn't supposed to be an intermission in this opera. Never mind that an intermission turns what is usually a tad long, but fairly streamlined night at the opera into a three hour slog. Go get a drink. You probably want one by now.

Picking up with the Spinning Scene, which is now the Sweeping Scene (if part of the concept was ripe for replacement this was it), the bright gaiety of the music and the excellent, robust singing from the women of the chorus couldn't rise above the mundane approach to the staging. To have the women at spinning wheels isn't a necessity- Nikolaus Lehnhoff's production seen here in 2004 (which I loved though most didn't), is a good example of how this can be effectively rendered without being literal, but it should be a visually engaging moment as it is undeniably a high point of the opera. However, here it felt rote and flat. Lindstrom's first big moment, Senta's aria about the legend of the Dutchman, followed, and curiously she sang the first two syllables of each line on top of each other- it was a jarring effect each time she did it, and her high notes pierced at times though she held the long lines well. The aria lacked a sense of foreboding, and Lindstrom failed to convey much about who Senta is and what drives her obsession with the Dutchman.

Her duet with the Grimsley, his face now powdered to vampiric white, created no heat as both singers more often than not stood singing to the audience instead of each other, while Grimsley making the same sweeping arm gestures repeatedly, reminding me of a quote I recently read by a director (his name escapes me) who said he has banned any sort of gestures that suggest the tenor would like to sell the members of the audience a lovely cupcake from this beautiful display case, or something to that effect. Sadly, there was no help to be had from the pit, and even had there been, a volcano of oceanic waves spews behind the singers during the beginning of the scene to an extent that becomes a punishment rather than an enhancement.

Had Summers been able to bring out the music's excitement the problems on the stage might have been less troublesome, or at least satisfyingly mitigated. But as I mentioned yesterday, the music carried an oddly Italianate tone to a distracting degree for much of the night, causing me to look online to see if this was the first time Summers has conducted Wagner. It isn't, but if it had been I would not have been at all surprised. The music during the first half of the duet scene sounded more like Verdi than Wagner, and there's a point somewhere in here when a sail appears onstage, and it's supposed to be moving in the breeze I guess, but what it looked like to me was the front of a satin thong, hung upside-down to dry. It was very distracting, especially because the projections behind it now looked like maggot-infested, rotting cherries.

After Erik (capably sung by Ian Storey, who is wasted in the overall scheme of things) mucks things up for Senta, causing the Dutchman to reject her, departing once again to the sea, what follows is accurate to the story, but again, in a change from the Liege production which should have been left alone, the execution is way too reminiscent of Tosca to the point that it felt like a lazy choice. However, this laziness was quickly outshone by an extremely silly, vapid projection which brought it all to a close, and looked lifted straight from a 1980's Hallmark Cards commercial.

Whatever happened to "If it works don't fix it"?

"It is true that I removed Petrika Ionesco from his role as director and scenic designer once the production arrived onstage, as it had become clear that the revisions we had been working on since the Liege premiere were not successful. Of the basic scenic pieces designed by Mr. Ionesco, 60% remain. The staging of the principals has been considerably amplified, and the use of supernumeraries for various purposes has been virtually eliminated. Many of the projections in the production originated conceptually with Mr. Ionesco, but they have been expanded upon and refined by production designer S. Katy Tucker working closely with me and the staff- most specifically with Assistant Director Elkhanah Pulitzer. Our goal has been to tell the story of the opera clearly, theatrically, and musically.
-    David Gockley, General Director, San Francisco Opera

Well, while I'm sure the intentions were good, the result is a mistake.

The current production of Wagner's Der Fliegende Hollander (The Flying Dutchman) that opened last night at San Francisco Opera is a co-production with Belgium's Opera Royal de Wallonie, which premiered in Liege in 2011. From what I could find of the Liege production online, the 40% that's been changed was the stuff that should have been kept. To make Hollander work requires an acceptance of the story's macabre setting, an acceptance that pretty much every character is batshit crazy in one way or another (Erik may be the most co-dependent, in-denial romantic figure in all of opera), and have a conductor who really knows how to conduct the score (I really like Patrick Summers but this sounded more like Bellini on steroids than Wagner, and it was pretty horrible- flaccid brass, missed entrances all over the place in the wind section, limp tempos). Most importantly, and Ionesco obviously got this, Senta is not some dreamy-eyed adolescent, but a girl with some serious issues. Compare the opening of the Liege production, which clearly makes the case that Senta is a morbid, death-obsessed woman who is ripe for what's about to happen to her, compared with the innocent woman standing in front of a Howard Hawks movie now showing at the War Memorial. Spoiler warning:

(here's the link if it doesn't show up in your mobile browser)

While that looks nothing like what I saw Tuesday night, it does sets the story perfectly  in place.

Below is another video showing scenes from the Liege production. Note the interesting aliens (?) at 4:44, the different tone of the staging (and props), the costuming, and most importantly, the ending at 5:09, which makes much more sense than the re-enactment of the climax of Tosca currently bringing down the curtain in San Francisco.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zgh-btYz710

I'll have more to say about this, a lot more actually, but for now, I think Inonesco was wronged (not to mention the audience). It's a complete shipwreck.

Dolores Claiborne

The set of Dolores Claiborne. Photo by Cory Weaver.

Poor planning on my part caused me to miss all of Patricia Racette's performances as Dolores Claiborne in Tobias Picker's opera of the same name, based on the Stephen King novel and just wrapping its world premiere at San Francisco Opera. However, I did manage to attend Catherine Cook's first night in the title role (she was the understudy for Dolora Zajick, who now famously bailed out just three weeks prior to the opening  night of an opera written specifically for her) and she turned in a solid performance as the put-upon, beaten-down, yet resilient Maine housekeeper whose nearest and dearest don't fare very well.

Picker re-kindled his earlier partnership with librettist J.D. McClatchy, and on the whole the result of their labors works well, but much of its success rests on the dramatic elements furnished by King's plot and characters (especially in the second half where the music, at least on my initial encounter, is less impressive than in the first) and an absolutely magnificent production. In fact, as the season's opening one-two punch, Mefistofele and Dolores Claiborne are easily among the best productions seen onstage during Gockley's tenure and combined they raise the stakes pretty high for the rest of the season as far as production values go. It will be interesting to see if SFO can maintain this level of quality staging, as so many during the past couple of season have seemed to have skimped on values and budgets. The dazzlingly versatile two-tiered set by Allen Moyer, the cinematic lighting by Christopher Akerlind and the perfectly executed projection design by Greg Emetaz create a highly theatrical experience and have a major role in bringing the story to life and keeping the audience thoroughly engaged as Picker's music increasingly hits the mark with only intermittent success.

The first act starts off with the death of Claiborne's employer Vera Donovan (Elizabeth Futral) as she tumbles down a flight of stairs and then Claiborne steps up to finish the deed by wielding a heavy object above her head. Cut. Fade. Cue Claiborne being interrogated by the police and now hit rewind to show how we got to the starting point of all of this. Tobias's music hits on all cylinders here, especially as the first extended scene features numerous maids running hither an yon at Donovan's estate as a steady rhythm percolates underneath it all. As the scene transitions to the small Claiborne house, furnished with second-hand furniture and oozing an air of gritty poverty, the percolating music starts chug like a jigsaw and then swirls in on itself, becoming a whirlpool that swallows the energy of the estate and sourly belches it out into the Claiborne living room where we meet Dolores' husband- a sleazy drunk named Joe St. George (Wayne Tigges) and her obviously unstable daughter Selena (Susannah Biller). That musical transition is a miracle of Wagnerian scale, but it's also the only one I noticed that was so skillfully rendered. There's also a brilliant segment which takes place during a ferry ride, where the music creates a gorgeous effect of the tide moving against the boat, while Dolores pulls out the horrible truth about what's been going on between her daughter and husband. This incestuous bit of sexual abuse gets it own signature tune which unfortunately sticks in the mind all too well, in the same way "Singing the in Rain" gets ruined in A Clockwork Orange,only maybe worse because the song is just so disgusting.

But Picker's musical inventiveness, which really carries the first act, isn't sustained in the second, and musically it seems to become very reminiscent of Britten. Is that due to challenges of singing decent lyrics in English, or is it because Britten's shadow is so large when it comes to English-language operas that composers have to push so far away from him to not draw the comparison? I really don't know, but during the second act the music kept bringing me back to a land-locked Billy Budd. The exception to that comes near the end, when Vera sings "Let me die" and suddenly it sounds like the ending of La Boheme. Still, everything else continues to work in the opera's favor- Tigges gives his all to the role and is thoroughly convincing to the point that when he gets his due the audience wants to cheer, and Biller, now an adult in the second act, not only gets the best aria of the entire show but she nails it perfectly. In fact, Biller's performance here is a triumph on all levels- she's equally convincing as a fourteen year-old girl and forty year-old woman, and her voice makes the transition convincingly as well, rising to the substantial challenges Picker's laid out for her. The same can be said for Futral, who manages to make Vera a sympathetic character despite the fact that she's a cold and calculating murderess herself and is gets a chance to sing anything remotely appealing but appeals nonetheless.

But the lack of musical engagement is almost easy to ignore because Dolores Claiborne is a contemporary verismo, a thriller-as-opera which consistently engages the viewer through its tight plotting, cinematic staging, and the dramatic conviction of the performers. For this Cook deserves kudos of all kinds- second-billed in her first leading role after 20+ years and 40 some-odd productions at SFO, she was wholly believable in the role and did an admirable job with the vocals. George Manahan conducted, and seemed well in control of the score, always in support of the singers, and letting the orchestra loose with visceral effect when the music called for it. Dolores Claiborne, as a new form of American verismo, isn't Tosca, but it succeeds.

Mefistofele

The Easter parade. Photo by Cory Weaver.

On Friday night at 6:45 PM I gave the woman behind the ticket counter $10 and in return she gave me standing room ticket #31, which meant San Francisco Opera's revival of Arrigo Boito's Mefistofele wasn't going to be very crowded. I went inside, placed my coat near the center of the orchestra level rail, then went outside to read the program and enjoy a cup of coffee. The main article in the program didn't make it sound like I was going to regret going on the cheap, as it included this quote about the opera from none other than the composer's friend and eventual publisher Giulio Ricordi:

“Boito has written an opera with many virtues and not a few defects. The question is: are these defects due to inexperience as regards the stage and matters theatrical? In that case, so much the better; we shall note a steady progress from one opera to the next, and in due course I shall hope to number Boito among the great composers. If, however, these faults are the result of a preconceived theory, of an unshakable artistic conviction, then I must say with all the frankness which informs my warm and deeply felt friendship for Boito: you may be a poet and a distinguished man of letters, but you will never be a composer for the musical stage.”

Next came this quote from George Bernard Shaw:

“Boito’s version of the Faust story seems almost as popular as Gounod’s, though Gounod’s is a true musical creation whereas Boito has only adapted the existing resources of orchestration and harmony very ably to his libretto. The whole work is a curious example of what can be done in opera by an accomplished literary man without original musical gifts, but with ten times the taste and culture of a musician of only ordinary extraordinariness.”

Reading this made me wonder why San Francisco Opera can be so prickly when someone slams one of their productions because apparently they're actually paying someone to write program notes stating what you're about to see and hear was once considered by experts to be shit.

Despite being almost twenty-five years old, Robert Carsen's production is one of the best things I've seen on the stage of the War Memorial in quite a long time. Michael Levine's sets and Gary Marder's lighting are gorgeous to look at and exquisitely detailed, from the flaming, blood-red curtain of their theater-within-a-theater concept to the priapic costuming of the male chorus during the Witches Sabbath scene, there is always something visual clamoring for one's attention. The conclusion of the Prologue, with the chorus occupying the entire stage and four tiers of opera boxes filled with trios of angels holding candles aloft as they belt out "Hail to thee," is one of those moments that could easily turn a first-time opera goer into an enthusiast. It gave me chills of pleasure, though the music caused me to make a mental note to check which came first, Mefistofele or Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana because there was some "borrowing" going on somewhere. Cav is the latter work, and in thinking about it I wonder if Mascagni's intent was to create a leitmotif based on the Faustian theme, which would be a nice touch, or did he just steal some ear candy from Boito? Probably the latter.

Act 1 starts off with an Easter Sunday carnival, which is an even greater delight than what came before. I haven't seen something on this stage with this much visual energy since the 1999 production of Un Ballo in Maschera, which was idiotically destroyed for some reason during the Rosenberg era. Ironically, that production also featured the SFO debut of tenor Ramon Vargas, who took over the role of Riccardo during the last two performances from an ailing Richard Margison. I was in the house for the first of them, and Vargas made his entrance by bursting onstage with an exuberance and energy that I've never seen nor heard from him since. Vargas is the Faust of this production, co-starring with Ildar Abdrazakov as Mefistofele. Vargas and Abdrazakov know these roles well because they've performed them together before- not only in Boito's operatic version of Goethe's story, but also in Berlioz's and Gounod's. It's kind of strange if you ask me, like they've become the operatic version of Robert DeNiro and Joe Pesci's appearances in gangster films.

Perhaps it's this over familiarity with each other and the roles that saps both men's performances of some much needed charisma. While Abdrazakov undoubtedly has the physical presence to play the Devil, and can ham it up with ease, his performance lacks wit and engagement. During Act 2's Walpurgis Night scene he's placed on a long buffet table surrounded by minions who are having a wickedly good time beneath him but all he does is sit leisurely on a throne. I was thinking while watching this how static it felt despite all the hubbub coming from the chorus and that the Devil should be dancing across that table, not idly sitting on it. The fault for this may lie with the revival's director Laurie Feldman, but I would think that Abdrazakov, with all his experience in the part, would have something more to contribute besides mugging his way through the scenes, no matter how adroitly. His voice too, has lost some of it menace since I last heard him as the Devil in the Berlioz version at the Met in 2009 (yes, Vargas was Faust in that one as well), his lower register becoming inaudible at times.

Vargas frustrates me. He's capable of great singing, can be an engaging actor, and possesses a distinct instrument. But the last few times I've seen him he seems to coast through most of the performance, saving his powers for his last big moment onstage where he decides to really let loose, but for the previous three hours he looked and sounded like he was simply going through the motions. Not that Boito has given him a Faust to work with of any depth or dimension, in fact of three versions in the standard rep his is the least interesting, but Vargas seemed to have nothing to offer beyond what's on the page.

Patricia Racette is too mature to be convincing as Margherita at this point, which makes sense since she also sang the role here in 1994. However, this is a distraction only during Act 2, where the richness of her tone and physical stature are incapable of letting her come across convincingly as an innocent youth. Her voice seemed stretched, shrill during the quartet in the garden scene, no doubt from the ridiculous burden she's currently placing on it by performing lead roles in two operas at once. In Act 3, which returns her to the garden, now an almost unrecognizable wasteland, her maturity becomes an asset as Margherita grieves over the death of her mother and child, the end result of her affair with Faust. Like Vargas was to do in the Epilogue, she summoned a stunning amount of power for her final aria, and with the exception of one alarmingly off note slipping through during her first aria, she sang the big moments with impressive strength and clarity.

Current Adler Fellows Chaunyue Wang as Wagner and Erin Johnson as Marta were both impressive in the smaller roles, especially Johnson's breasts which could merit their own mention in the cast as Jello On Springs, to quote Jack Lemmon. Marina Harris was good as Helen of Troy during Act 4, but at this point the opera really begins to drag, and both she and Renee Rapier as Pantalis have somewhat unfortunate assignments because I can't imagine anyone's attention isn't beginning to wander toward their watch during this part, which is largely devoid of any excitement onstage.

After Faust's death, a moment which despite Vargas' best vocal efforts contains little drama, the angels in the theater return, ending the show on another stunning high note. Nicola Luisotti led the orchestra in a thoroughly robust performance, but certainly didn't disprove Shaw's observations. See it for the production values and the work of the chorus, both of which are remarkable.

San Francisco Opera's 2013-14 season

Heidi Stober Patricia Racette

After a couple of dreadfully dull seasons full of dire warnings and dismal productions, two years ago San Francisco Opera General Director David Gockley finally figured out how to move forward through the shifting landscape of economic upheaval and rapidly shifting cultural changes which have outright killed or drastically wounded performing arts organizations across the country. Since the success of the Zembello Ring, Moby Dick and Nixon in China, the company appears to have found its footing once again and the past  season was the first in awhile that felt like a solid success. If it didn't quite turn out that way 100% of the time, it wasn't for lack of trying. Opera is a risky business and I'm convinced time will prove the naysayers wrong about Mary Magdalene.

When the coming season was announced last December it seemed a slight step backward, but reconsidering it again eight months later, I think overall it's a solid schedule given the circumstances. While it's not the risky, forward-looking enterprise a certain segment of the audience still craves, the company's current approach appears smartly designed to attract new audiences, keep the occasionals engaged, and makes more than a an obligatory nod to the enthusiasts. Gockley has again offered something for almost everyone and that fact that there's another world premiere taking place reaffirms the man isn't playing it safe. Of course it's just a coincidence that the current approach taken by the administration is starting to increasingly resemble the one I suggested three years ago [except not once did I mention Patricia Racette].

Even though I can only think of one person who may be excited at the prospect of seeing Patricia Racette three four times in one season, I'd see all eight of the productions offered. As I mentioned in December, the only real disappointment here is in the casting [of Patricia Racette in ALMOST EVERYTHING], which is acceptable but not tremendously exciting. Again, where are the company debuts by Nino Machaidze, Michelle De Young, Marina Poplavskaya, Matthias Goerne, Gianluca Terranova or Jonas Kaufmann? Or the return of Stemme, Radvanovsky, Damrau and Keenlyside? Hvorostovsky will appear with the Symphony, but not at the War Memorial. It could just be the way it went this time and things will be brighter in 2014-15.

L to R: Patricia Racette, Patricia Racette, Patricia Racette, Patricia Racette

Here's how I ranked them in order of preference APPEARANCES BY PATRICA RACETTE back in December, which hasn't changed:

Mefistofele: Arrigo Boito's only extant complete opera, with a great cast featuring Ildar Abdrazakov, Ramon Vargas and PATRICIA RACETTE, conducted by Luisotti. A peripheral element of the company's celebration of Verdi's bicentennial, this opera by his best librettist isn't a rarity, but isn't something one sees scheduled too often. This production was last seen in 1994. RACETTE sang Margherita in that one, too. On a side note, I think it's interesting that people are now more interested in seeing Abdrazakov than his wife.

Dolores Claiborne: A world premiere is always cause for excitement and trepidation. This one, commissioned by SFO from composer Tobias Picker (An American Tragedy, Emmeline) and librettist/poet J.D. McClatchy (Grendel, Emmeline), is based on the Stephen King King novel of the same name and stars Dolora Zajick PATRICIA RACETTE [yet AGAIN] (with Catherine Cook alternating for the final two nights) in the title role with Elizabeth Futral, Susannah Biller and Wayne Tigges as the "abusive husband." I haven't read the book nor seen the film based on it, so I have no idea what it's about, but I like the idea of Zajick with an abusive husband- with Racette taking over so late in rehearsal for an ailing Zajick (Cook was the understudy) it sounds like lots of drama.

Show Boat: Though many hate this idea, I for one am happy to see Gockley is finally following the advice I gave him a couple of years ago and committed to presenting American musicals in the opera house (more are on the way). He's even taken one of my casting suggestion. So you can blame me or thank me, depending on your stance, on this blatant attempt to bring in the crowds that will prove to be a huge success. Nathan Gunn, GUESS WHO and the excellent Heidi Stober star in the Kern and Hammerstein classic, directed by Francesa Zambello. It's going to be great, and supposedly done without microphones. But I won't be happy until we get The Music Man.

Falstaff: The one supposedly great Verdi opera I've never warmed to, I'm hoping the first-rate cast led by Bryn Terfel in the title role, along with Ainhoa Arteta and Heidi Stober, and led by Luisotti will do the trick in this production from Chicago. it seems every single opera company in the country is doing Falstaff this year. One question- wtf what is Arteta doing here? Can't this be sung by PATRICIA RACETTE? smh.

The Flying Dutchman: After such a marvelous Lohengrin this season, it seems like a missed opportunity to pass on celebrating the Wagner bicentennial with Parsifal, but any Wagner is better than no Wagner. I was one of the nine people who loved the last production seen here in 2004 from Chicago by Nikolaus Lehnhoff, so that's been passed over in favor of new co-production with Belgium's Opéra Royal de Wallonie. Greer Grimsley, who impressed everyone as Jokanaan in Salome returns in the title role, Petra Maria Schnitzer, whose last appearance here was in the under-appreciated Tannhauser, makes her debut as Senta. Ian Storey (last seen briefly as Siegfried in Gotterdammerung) and Kristinn Sigmundsson are also on hand. Patrick Summers conducts. [update 08/29/13: San Francisco opera has just issued a press release stating PATRICIA RACETTE has purchased the German version of Rosetta Stone language software and if everything goes according to plan, RACETTE will make her Wagnerian debut as Senta halfway through the run].

Madama Butterfly: GUESS WHO returns as Cio-Cio-San, a role in which by all accounts she was magnificent when she last performed it here in 2006 and 2007. Regrettably I missed those, since one can only take so many Butterflies, and saw it last time around instead, which was a complete disaster. But this is a production new to SF, so if you've never seen it, or haven't in a long time, now's the time to take in this Puccini masterpiece, which has become so frequently scheduled by the company it seems silly to complain about it at this point even though it shows up almost every other fucking year. Brian Jagde is Pinkerton- another plus.

The Barber of Seville: Gioachino Rossini, certainly one of the greatest opera composers of all time, wrote 39 operas, but only 5 have been seen in San Francisco in the past twenty years and of those 9 productions, 4 have been The Barber. Can't we have something else by Rossini once in awhile? The last production, with its revolving house set and red scooter was a delight, but has been retired for some reason. One can only hope the young and very talented casts assembled for this new production have as much to work with. Barber is a masterpiece, and perfect for first-timers. If done with verve, it can be the most fun you'll ever have at the opera. Here's hoping it's done for fun and not just for the cash. And what's the deal, can't someone in casting give a role to PATRICIA RACETTE in this one too? Something? Anything?

La Traviata: Reviving this production is going to be a hard sell for anyone who saw it the last time it was here with Ruth Ann Swenson, Rolando Villazon and Dimitri Hvorostovsky in the leads (this isn't the flapper production from LA which starred Netrebko). To this day that  performance remains one my all-time favorite operatic experiences. It was traditional staging done in the most magnificent way possible- deadly earnest and flawlessly delivered from everyone involved. It was spellbinding. The cast assembled this time around had better be good, because there is nowhere to hide in this production. The Perez/Costello/Kelsey cast features good singers who could one day be great (and perhaps one is already), but in my opinion they could be a bit on the young side to pull this off as convincingly as it needs to be done to really succeed. In the other cast of Yoncheva/Pirgu/Stoyanov, Pirgu is the only one I've heard and I wasn't overly impressed. I wish them luck, but I'd wait to hear something about it first before plunking down $300+ for a full-price ticket in the Orchestra or Grand Tier sections. Perez and Yoncheva better watch their backs. I have a feeling PATRICIA RACETTE will be announced as singing Violetta by mid May.

Single tickets for all performances PATRICIA RACETTE are now on sale for all operas, but you can save up to 40% by getting a subscription. If you work for a large corporation, see if you can find a discount code through them. If you don't, email me and I'll give you one you can use. Order online, call the box office at (415) 864-3330, or go to the War memorial Opera House at Van Ness and Grove (Civic Center BART). Hours are 10-5 on Monday, 10-6 Tues-Sat. Phone only until the season starts. Standing room seats are available for $10 the day of the show at 10 AM and if you go up to the balcony the sound is best  PATRICIA RACETTE will sound better and you can see close-ups of the singers her on the "Operavision" screens (check the calendar to see which performances have these- not all of them do). Downstairs standing has better sightlines but the boxes overhead mute a lot of the sound. Either way, it's not a bad way to see opera PATRICIA RACETTE. on the cheap, but remember, you do have to stand up for PATRICIA RACETTE's entire performance and there may be a troll-type next to you. If you're new to opera, listen to some recordings beforehand on MOG, Spotify, or YouTube. Do some reading, including the program notes which are posted online beforehand. You'll be glad you did, trust me. Also check out the delightful, informative, and amusing book A Night at the Opera with Patrica Racette by Sir Denis Forman. It's a much better place to initially learn about opera PATRICIA RACETTE. than the Kobbe's reference book everyone talks about. Trust me on that, too. Also, you really can wear whatever you want, but it's always a good idea to dress up. Just don't wear shorts and don't wear a tux unless it's opening night. Attending by yourself is perfectly acceptable- if you're bold it's quite easy to meet someone with whom you may eventually have sex- just approach them during the intermission and ask what they think of the show so far. Don't pretend to know more about opera PATRICIA RACETTE. than you do- it may turn out the person you are speaking to knows an awful lot about opera PATRICIA RACETTE.. Learn from them. Eavesdrop on others. Note the fashion. Box Z is the easiest to sneak in to on the sly. Just act as if you belong there. If the door is locked it means they didn't sell any of the tickets for that box. You're out of luck and an usher will come down the hall and indignantly ask what you are doing. Just mutter "Rosebud" with asperity and walk out the door directly behind you into the outer perimeter, turn left, and take the stairs to the lobby level.  Do not speak out loud once the music has begun, including the overture. Period. Ever. It annoys the piss out of those sitting around you, and believe me, we can everything you say, even when you're whispering. Just don't do it. Don't yell "Bravo!" and especially don't yell "Bravi! PATTY!!!" However, whistling and hollering at the appropriate moment is completely acceptable. If you hear someone boo, you're probably witnessing something really fantastic. Don't be the first to clap unless you know with dead certainty the singer is finished. Wait until you are sure they are finished. You'll know once a few people have started to applaud. Nothing breaks the spell more than a premature ejaculation from the over-eager, just like in real-life.

Why not Michelle DeYoung?

San Francisco Opera issued a press release yesterday about Dolora Zajick's withdrawal from the world premiere of Tobias Picker's Dolores Claiborne, set to open next month. Perhaps the bigger news is that her replacement is going to be Patrica Racette, with Catherine Cook taking on the final two performances.

Zajick is a mezzo. Racette's a soprano. Not a big deal, I guess, but this is going to be the 4th appearance by Racette out of 8 operas the company has scheduled for the 2013-14 season. Does anyone else find that to be just a bit much?

Why not someone else? Specifically, why not Michelle DeYoung? Yes, she's doing Lohengrin in Switzerland in October, but she's one of the best mezzos singing today and SFO has yet to put her on the stage. What about Sasha Cooke? Her website says she's scheduled to give some master classes in Little Rock during these dates, and not much else. I'm just wondering- was there really no one else available?

Something about Mary Magdalene...

Sasha Cooke as Mary Magdalene. Photo from San Francisco Opera's website.

Numerous operas by talented, established composers have debuted to indifferent audiences and negative critics. Some disappear, like Verdi's Un giorno di regno (King for One Day), while others get revisited by their composer who eventually figures out how to turn an initial failure into a smashing success- Madama Butterfly and Fidelio being just two examples. I thought of these operas about halfway through the first act of Mark Adamo's "The Gospel of Mary Magdalene" while sitting amid rows of empty seats in the War Memorial orchestra section, thinking what a pity it was that more people weren't experiencing what could have been a masterpiece. It's certainly not in its current form, but it could be.

There are at least three scenes that are among the most romantic, well-written set pieces I've seen on the opera stage and with some fine-tuning they may eventually rival the best of Puccini and Strauss. The opera has two arias, maybe three, that could easily become standards for opera, jazz, theater and cabaret singers. Some short-sighted, historically uniformed critics have remarked that these songs resemble "Broadway" musical theater rather than opera, and I'll just let the ridiculous idiocy of such comments stand on their own.

The problem with Mary Magdalene isn't a libretto filled with footnotes- who cares? No one is singing the footnotes. And it isn't the music, which is as good as any I've heard in a contemporary opera, and better than most. No, the problem with Adamo's opera is the composer's own religious faith and personal attachment to the material has made him constrain his own best instincts and hedge when he should have let everything loose and gone for broke.

At its heart The Gospel of Mary Magdalene is a fantastically romantic opera about two historical figures whom the composer knows many people could have problems envisioning in romantic settings. So instead of ignoring those folks, which he should, Adamo tries to have it both ways and ends up diluting the power of his own vision by adding in the unnecessary frame of the modern day settlers and keeping certain traditional elements intact- as if going halfway will somehow get him all the way. It doesn't work, but it also doesn't bury the serious beauty of what he's created, which is a love story that approaches Tristan-like heights during its best moments. Well- maybe Rosenkavalier-like heights, but still.

This opera should really be stripped down to its essence-  the story of Mary and Jesus, framed by the people and events immediately surrounding and impacting their relationship. The implications of Adamo's interpretation are a profound and moving vision. In its current state it comes close to achieving something truly rare, but the abundant cautionary noise surrounding it blunts much of its potential impact. I hope Adamo revises this, and that time will prove the critics who bashed it will eventually feel as mistaken as those who called Nixon in China "a CNN opera."

Sasha Cooke was vocally and dramatically superb in the title role, as was Maria Kanyova as Miryam (the other Mary). Nathan Gunn was interesting as Jesus, vocally adept if never compelling, and I'm still pondering the choices of his dramatic interpretation, which is low-keyed and in some ways this makes more sense than portraying Jesus as a charismatic magneto of a rabbi, but it also makes Mary's and Peter's devotion less understandable. William Burden's Peter was well-sung and well performed, making his jealousy of Mary and devotion to Jesus a lynch pin to the narrative, all the more compelling when he betrays Jesus at the end. Adler Fellow AJ  Glueckert made a big impression in a small part as one of the modern day settlers. The orchestra played beautifully under conductor Michael Christie and Constance Hoffman's costumes were perfect.

Anyone remotely interested in contemporary opera should see this. Kudos to San Francisco Opera's David Gockley for bringing it to the stage. 

The Best of A Beast: 2012

Napoleon.

It's been quite a year.

If you've read this blog steadily over the last four years, and especially between the lines, I imagine you can't help but notice that this was the year when people and things started disappearing. Penelope, the Femme Fatale, Isabella, the Manhattans, most of the known associates,The Little Chinese Man, and the frequency of posts- where did they go? I've decided not to reveal all of the reasons behind this just yet, but eventually I probably will when I feel enough distance exists. Amidst all of this carnage (and believe me, it was carnage), I didn't even get around to writing posts about two performances listed below, and really didn't do the justice I intended to a third. Having spent most of the last twelve months changing some things and attempting to right others, I can only tell you it is my full intention to remedy this in the new year.

Looking back, it was also a different year for what made the list. Opera, which was nearly absent last time, came back to dominate this year's model, and even though my Number 1 isn't an opera it truly felt like one, so add one more for a total of six of the ten slots being taken by operas.  It was also a good year for Cal Performances, which presented three of the top ten performances and three of the honorable mentions. San Francisco Opera returned to the list after being absent last year, thank goodness, because let's face it- there is nothing better than opera and when SFO is putting junk on the stage life becomes a bit dull. However, it wasn't a great year for theater- at least the theater I saw, though there were some good things going on at Berkeley Rep which got honorable mentions.

I also saw fewer recitals, attended less dance, films, pop, and jazz performances and little of what I did attend in these areas impressed me this year, so there hasn't been much mention of these.  It's not that I'm getting lazy, at least I hope it's not that, but this has been a year of change and transition and I needed to take some time away from attending performances and writing about them to actually sort some things out. So without any further blather on my part, though  reserving my right to elaborate further on any or all of the items mentioned above or below at a future time, here are the best performances I experienced as an audience member during the last year:

1. Napoleon
Rarely, if ever, have I had the pleasure of experiencing something so completely immersing and engaging on every level of artistry. Abel Gance's 5 and 1/2 hour silent film from 1927  is more than a masterpiece- it's visionary, epic in the truest sense of the word, and fascinates from beginning to end. But the experience was really made sublime by the accompanying performance of the Oakland East bay Orchestra under the baton of Carl Davis conducting his own heroic score. To experience it all inside the exquisitely restored art deco Paramount Theatre was just icing on the cake. This not only lived up to the "once in lifetime" hype- it exceeded it by every measure. I really regret not writing a post about this- maybe one day.

2. Nixon in China
Nixon was the best thing San Francisco Opera has put on the stage of the War Memorial since The Makropulos Affair, and easily stands as the highlight of David Gockley's (who commissioned the John Adams work while he was with the Houston Opera) tenure. Superb casting and a production which really brought the opera's nuances to the fore made for one of the most compelling experiences I've experienced in the house. I was lucky to see it twice during the run, and could have easily enjoyed a third viewing. I regret never going back to write about this in-depth because there is so much to say about it, especially the third act, which many observers seemed to view as a throw-away, but I felt was the heart and soul of the work, a beautifully executed denouement where the main characters gather and internally ask themselves "What do we now after we've changed the world?" and can only respond with "What is left to do?"

3. Certitude and Joy
Erling Wold's chamber opera based on the real events surrounding a woman who sacrificed her own children to God by drowning them in the San Francisco Bay stuck in my head for weeks afterward. Wold's compelling score, played by the recently Grammy-nominated Zofo Duet and the earnest commitment of everyone on the small stage to make this work created something which deeply moved me. I'll never forget how I felt when it ended.

4. Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Philharmonia Orchestra's Mahler's 9th
As I mentioned in the original post, this performance brought me to tears. Thinking about its effect still makes my eyes swell.

5. Einstein on the Beach
Cal Performances was instrumental in making this revival of the original production happen and as promised, it was something every opera fan should have seen. Like Napoleon, Einstein lived up to the hype. How lucky are we in the Bay Area to live in a place where not one, but two rarely experienced major works of art appear on local stages in the same year?

6. Lohengrin (no post)
If only every production offered by San Francisco Opera were this good. Brandon Jovanovich was perfect in the title role, with an excellent supporting cast, a thoughtful production, and extraordinary conducting from Luisotti as he popped his Wagner cherry. Magnificent on every level- the company should be quite proud of it.

7. Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Philharmonia Orchestra's Wozzeck
Had this been a fully staged production and taken place at the War Memorial Opera House it would have easily been number two on this list.

8. Joyce DiDonato and the Alexander String Quartet: Camille Claudel: Into the Fire
While I admired Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer's Moby Dick in its San Francisco debut this past fall, I ultimately felt the second act didn't live up to the artistic level and expectations created in its first. It left me wondering what the team could have done with more time to work on the opera, which felt like it was lacking something at its core. On the other hand, this smaller scale work arrived onstage so fully realized in its conception and execution it made me yearn for a larger, full-blown opera to be developed from the material. DiDonato just had what was probably the best year of her career (so far) and in retrospect this concert performance seemed like a harbinger for what was to follow.

9. Christian Tetzlaff and the San Francisco Symphony
The epitome of a rock star performance by a classical musician, and a perfect combination of piece and performer.

10. The San Francisco Symphony's American Mavericks Festival
Last season's Centennial celebration by the San Francisco Symphony had no shortage of highlights, but the return of the American Mavericks festival highlighted so many elements of what makes this organization and orchestra under Michael Tilson Thomas so great. Not every moment worked, but the sum of every concert worked extremely well, with each featuring at least one truly memorable and exciting performance, often much more. Criticized by some for not being mavericky enough in its programming, those who actually attended were thrilled to be a part of it- I certainly was, and the next version can't arrive soon enough.

Honorable mentions (in no particular order): An Iliad, Keith Jarrett, Ojai North!, Nameless Forest, You Killed Hamlet, The Mariinsky Ballet and Orchestra, Hilary Hahn, and Khatia Buniashvili's dress.

On a personal note, I want to thank Isabella- for everything you've given both from a distance and up close. Thank you Sheila, for being a wonderful listener in many ways. And thank you Thaïs, for killing the Femme Fatale and in doing so forcing me to figure out what's next.

And finally, I'd like to thank you, whoever you are, for reading this. See you next year.

Next time I want The Music Man, bitches! San Francisco Opera's 2013-14 season.

Get used to this face. You're going to see a lot of it.

Earlier this year I wrote that for the first time during the Gockley era, I would happily see everything San Francisco Opera had to offer in its coming season. It didn't work out that way, since I never made it to a performance of Rigoletto or Tosca, but I've seen both of those productions multiple times (and the most of the leads in other roles) so I didn't feel like I was missing too much. What I heard from others (non-writers)was that Rig was okay and Tosca was great with either cast. The three I did attend this fall were all well worth it: The Capulets and Montagues featured extraordinary singing from Nicole Cabell and Joyce DiDonato; Moby-Dick, though undermined by a second act which doesn't build on the strengths of the first, was still imaginative, memorable, and well-cast; and as I suspected it might, Lohengrin turned out to be an unequivocal triumph on every level- one of the best productions the house has staged in recent years, ranking up there with Nixon in China and The Makropulos Affair in achieving (and surpassing) what one should expect from a world-class company (posts on them should show up soon).

I remain very optimistic about the operas coming up this summer, and suspect they could even hit an artistic trifecta. It looked like Gockley had finally hit his stride here in San Francisco, and that he did it in this economic climate made it all the more impressive. So I'm puzzled and somewhat dismayed by today's announcement of the company's 2013-14 season, even though it's nice to say that for the second year in a row, fully half of it will be comprised of things I've never seen before.

However, what's on tap for next year is not as interesting as the current season- the ability to attract (and pay) the star-power that has been a constant during Gockley's tenure seems greatly diminished- in fact it's at its lowest wattage in several seasons. When Patricia Racette, Ramon Vargas, Nathan Gunn, Bryn Terfel and Dolora Zajick are the seasons biggest names there's not a lot to get people excited about- these are all fine singers without a doubt, and there are many more on the schedule including the excellent Ainhoa Arteta, Heidi Stober and Idlar Abdrazakov, but they're all known quantities. The casts are solid, but there are also a number of debuts by unfamiliar names we can only hope turn out to be pleasant surprises

Where are the company debuts by Nino Machaidze, Michelle De Young, Marina Poplavskaya, Matthias Goerne, Gianluca Terranova or Jonas Kaufmann? Or the return of Stemme, Radvanovsky, Damrau or Keenlyside?  Why no Britten in his centennial year? And why three productions featuring Racette? That's just ridiculous.


Of course these schedules are planned years in advance, but I have to imagine that there's a certain amount of "contingency" scenarios involved, more so now than ever in an era where every house still seems to be having trouble selling tickets. Lisa was at today's press conference and writes that Gockley acknowledged

"the need to keep the company on a decent financial footing has been paramount during the ongoing recession. His priority has been to keep quality high while sacrificing repertory. He said that he is leaving repertory holes, and he knows it, that he hopes will be filled by his white knight successor."

Wait a second- wasn't Gockley supposed to be the white knight whose assignment was to clean up the mess left by his predecessor?


Like this year's Rig and Tosca, there are double casts and long runs of two war horses, The Barber of Seville and La Traviata. During the intermission of Moby Dick I overheard someone who claimed to be a super say the company lost a million dollars on Rigoletto. I have no idea if that's true, but 40% discounts on seats for Rig and Tosca were easily had throughout their runs, despite the well-known leads. So my question is if that didn't work out so well this year, why is it being repeated next year with significantly lesser-known casts?

Okay, enough carping. I'm happy the company is still alive and there is going to be some good stuff on the stage. And once again, there isn't anything I wouldn't see, though there are only four five things I really want to see, plus the added one-night-only performance of Verdi's Requiem with an excellent group of soloists, makes it five six. Here we go, in order:

Mefistofele: Arrigo Boito's only extant complete opera, with a great cast featuring Idlar Abdrazakov, Ramon Vargas and Racette, conducted by Luisotti. A peripheral element of the company's celebration of Verdi's bicentennial, this opera by his best librettist isn't a rarity, but isn't something one sees scheduled too often. This production was last seen in 1994. Racette sang Margherita in that one, too.

Dolores Claiborne: A world premiere is always cause for excitement and trepidation. This one, commissioned by SFO from composer Tobias Picker (An American Tragedy, Emmeline) and librettist/poet J.D. McClatchy (Grendel, Emmeline), is based on the Stephen King King novel of the same name and stars Dolora Zajick in the title role with Elizabeth Futral, Susannah Biller and Wayne Tigges as the "abusive husband." I haven't read the book nor seen the film based on it, so I have no idea what it's about, but I like the idea of Zajick with an abusive husband- sounds like lots of drama.

Show Boat: Not that I expect him to send me tickets or anything like that, since they won't even add me to their press list (why so petty, Jon?), but Gockley is finally following the advice I gave him a couple of years ago and has decided to stage American musicals- he's even taken one of my casting suggestions! So you can blame me or thank me, depending on your stance, on this blatant attempt to bring in the crowds that will prove to be a huge success. Nathan Gunn, Racette and Heidi Stober star in the Kern and Hammerstein classic, directed by Francesa Zambello. It's going to be great, and supposedly done without microphones. Next time I want The Music Man, bitches!

Falstaff: The one supposedly great Verdi opera I've never warmed to, I'm hoping the first-rate cast led by Bryn Terfel in the title role, along with Ainhoa Arteta and Heidi Stober, and led by Luisotti will do the trick in this production from Chicago.

The Flying Dutchman: After such a marvelous Lohengrin this season, it seems like a missed opportunity to pass on celebrating the Wagner bicentennial with Parsifal, but any Wagner is better than no Wagner. I was one of fourteen people who loved the last production from Chicago by Nikolaus Lehnhoff seen here in 2004, so that's been passed over in favor of new co-production with Belgium's Opéra Royal de Wallonie. Greer Grimsley, who impressed everyone as Jokanaan in Salome returns in the title role, Petra Maria Schnitzer, whose last appearance here was in the under-appreciated Tannhauser makes her debut as Senta. Ian Storey (last seen as Siegfried in Gotterdammerung) and Kristinn Sigmundsson are also on hand. Patrick Summers conducts. Okay- make this another one I really want to see- Dutchman, done right, is a fantastic opera.

Madama Butterfly: Racette returns as Cio-Cio-San, a role in which by all accounts she was magnificent when she last performed it here in 2006 and 2007. Regrettably I missed those, since one can only take so many Butterflies, and saw it last time around instead, which was a complete disaster. But this is a production new to SF, so if you've never seen it, or haven't in a long time, now's the time to take in this Puccini masterpiece, which has become so frequently scheduled by the company it seems silly to complain about it at this point even though it shows up almost every other fricking year. Brian Jagde is Pinkerton- another plus.

The Barber of Seville: Gioachino Rossini, certainly one of the greatest opera composers of all time, wrote 39 operas, but only 5 have been seen in San Francisco in the past twenty years and of those 9 productions, 4 have been The Barber. Can't we have something else by Rossini once in awhile? The last production, with its revolving house set and red scooter was a delight, but has been retired for some reason. One can only hope the young and talented casts assembled for this new production have as much to work with. Barber is a wonderful opera, and perfect for first-timers. If done with verve, it can be the most fun you'll ever have at the opera. Here's hoping it's done for fun and not just for the cash.

La Traviata: This production is going to be a hard sell for anyone who saw it the last time it was here with Ruth Ann Swenson, Rolando Villazon and Dimitri Hvorostovsky in the leads (this isn't the flapper production from LA which starred Netrebko). To this day that  performance remains one my all-time favorite operatic experiences. It was traditional staging done in the most magnificent way possible- deadly earnest and flawlessly delivered from everyone involved. It was spellbinding. The cast assembled this time around had better be good, because there is nowhere to hide in this production. The Perez/Costello/Kelsey cast features good singers who could one day be great (and perhaps one is already), but in my opinion they could be a bit on the young side to pull this off as convincingly as it needs to be done to really succeed. In the other cast of Yoncheva/Pirgu/Stoyanov, Pirgu is the only one I've heard and I wasn't overly impressed. I wish them luck, but I'd wait to hear something about it first before plunking down $300+ for a full-price ticket in the Orchestra or Grand Tier sections.

The Capulets and the Montagues

Isabella was seated at a table next to the window, her back straightened against the traffic flowing down the street, her dark eyes trained on the door, waiting. Though it had been  nearly five months since I saw her last, it soon felt like a matter of days as we quickly fell into our easy rapport, despite everything that had transpired during this long interlude.  She had been in Prague, among other places, taking in a dreadful Carmen and a sumptuous Traviata amongst other things during her trip, and she had much to say about it all.

I asked her what she was doing now, and she replied "I'm writing a solo piece. It's about Wagner and sex. You figure prominently in it."

After pausing a moment to take this in, I wondered aloud, "Is it comedic, or what?"

Her response straddled the line between prolixity and obfuscation before settling gently on an admission of indecision regarding her direction.

Finally she trained those eyes on me, which now looked like black pools above the pearls roped around her neck and said, "So how are you?"

I looked down at the cup of jasmine tea before me, realizing I could only give her what amounted to a superficial account in the time we had left before we had to make our way across the street, and left most of the story concerning these past months spent in the company of Thaïs for another time, though I knew she curious about it all.

Like many people, I suppose, Puccini's operas were the doorway leading to my love of the form. He was eventually replaced by Verdi as the favorite, who in turn lost out to Wagner. Along the way I developed an appreciation for the works of Donizetti, and an ever-increasing awe for those by Rossini. 

Bellini, on the other hand, never gained a place in the standings. How could he? He composed less than a dozen operas, fewer than half of which are ever heard. However, the quantity really isn't the issue- Bizet, Mascagni, Leoncavallo are just a few of the one or two-hit wonders whose works will get me to the house. No, the problem with Bellini is that everything he did well, and there is much that he did indeed do well, Verdi, and to a lesser extent Donizetti, borrowed and improved upon. Improved upon greatly, in fact, and when one becomes familiar with the work of the original only after digesting that of his more talented successors, well, there you have it. 

Even Norma, his crowning masterpiece, is something I can barely tolerate due to its absurd plot, the most preposterous in all of opera's standard rep.

So it certainly wasn't the opportunity to hear some Bellini which made me want to see  I Capuleti ed i Montecchi (The Capulets and the Montagues), but rather it's the exceptional cast, especially the return of Joyce DiDonato, whose career seems to be hitting its peak right now, and let's hope it's an extended one.

Prior to seeing it for myself, I read the many scornful accounts of this particular production which made it seem just short of being completely incomprehensible or comparable to so-called "Eurotrash," for which some folks seem to have such a distaste (I appreciate Eurotrash, btw, but then again I also appreciate Russ Meyer films and The Spice Girls, so perhaps this shouldn't surprise you).  I found it to be neither trashy nor incomprehensible, and while it's certainly not brilliant, it serves the opera, which is second-rate to begin with, reasonably well.

Comprised of two acts with three scenes in each, this co-production from the Bavarian State Opera wasn't designed for this house, so there are ungodly long set changes between each scene that kill what little momentum there is to begin with and only once seemed worth the wait, when the audience applauded as the curtain rose for Scene III in Act 1, though it's hard to say if the applause was for the tableaux vivant opening featuring a riot of color from costume designer Christian Lacroix, or if the audience was just happy to be getting on with the show.

The opera opens with a chorus of Capulet supporters gathered onstage in the Capulet's palace, suspended above them are  sleek English riding saddles, polished to the point of fetishism (and by all means feel free to insert Marx's theory of commodity fetishism in here if you like), suggesting a climate of aggression and battle, albeit a highly-stylized one. They're just hanging there, a hovering presence signaling something violent is in the air, waiting to come into play.  Tebaldo, performed by Saimir Pirgu in his company debut, gets a couple of  choice arias in this scene, during which he displayed a nice tone but failed to nail it at the top of the range. His stage presence was far from commanding as he vowed to avenge the death of Capellio's son (Juliet's brother). Eric Owens, a singer of terrific talent and ability, is largely wasted in the role of Capellio and he seems to know it- his performance lacked the spark which seemed an inherent part of his stage persona in the previous times I've seen him. Then DiDonato as Romeo enters in disguise, her face so garishly lit from below I though she had on a mask, and blah, blah, blah- you know this isn't going to work out very well for Romeo. During all of this, and for the rest of his appearance throughout the opera, current Adler Fellow Ao Li made a great impression in the role of Lorenzo, the family physician.

Scene 2 opens with a statue of two lovers creating a Pieta suspended above Juliet's almost-bare room. It's a gorgeous effect, and has powerful implications during the scene, which in the one really interesting directorial choice, is played as a mad scene for Juliet. The only thing onstage besides the statue are the walls of Juliet's room and a sink- an ugly one, reminiscent at first of the kind found in a cell, which is anchored into a wall. Juliet sings her song of woe, she slowly makes her way to the sink, then into the sink. At first it looks like she's approaching a fountain, and as the scene unfolds it becomes one of a woman performing an ablution. After performing the ritual she stands in the sink, yearning to touch the Pieta of the lovers, which remains beyond her grasp in every sense. To bash Bellini again, this most beautiful part of the opera was stolen - it's essentially a re-write of "The Willow Song" from Rossini's Otello. Nicole Cabell, making her company debut as Juliet, was radiant and convincing in this scene, and if she doesn't have the type of voice one normally associates with bel canto, it's not a problem here as she unleashed one gorgeous legato line upon another.

Romeo then enters, and here's where Bellini's decision to use the source material of the story instead of Shakespeare's version of the tale becomes problematic for this production. Rather than embrace one another, the two lovers force themselves into separate corners or against opposing walls of the cell/room all while singing of their deep and profound love for one another. The result comes across as two young people lost within in their own individual, personally created isolation and familial alienation, and they are mistaking the resulting confusion and conflict for love. The problem for the audience is that if the kids don't come across as lovers, but instead seemed just confused kids playing at being lovers, the whole thing goes off the rails, and it did, despite the efforts and gorgeous singing of DiDonato and Cabell, who couldn't make it come truly alive.

Scene 3 has the Capulet chorus re-enter with the saddles now on their shoulders, ready for action. There's much congratulating Capellio on the imminent wedding. Romeo vows to stop all of this nonsense, and then his real identity is revealed. Uh-oh. This lasts for about half an hour, and the when the curtain comes down if you feel a bit tired, you should- it's been a long hour and a half so far.

Act II opens with Lacroix-clad female wedding guests doing a walk of shame up bleachers to disappear into another set of bleachers beyond the back wall of the stage. I've read that the women appear onstage with flowers stuffed in their mouths at some point in this opera, and this may be the scene, but I didn't notice- I was too busy looking at the shoes. I have a bit of thing for high heels. I was still thinking about the shoes during part where Lorenzo brings the potion, Juliet drinks it, and then begs Capellio for forgiveness. None of this erased the shoes from my mind. I wanted more shoes.

Scene 5 finds Romeo at looking into a vanishing point on the horizon, singing a lovely aria reflecting his diminishing future options. Then Tebaldo entered the scene and was facing off against our hero, which unfortunately at one point had him (actually her, remember) bending over with his rear facing the audience. I found myself thinking Romeo has a really nice ass. Now Isabella had been given a behind-the-scenes tour of this production and had seen the costumes up close, and knew some details which she had imparted to me during the intermission- the costumes were exquisitely crafted and had many fine touches the audience would never even know were there, including gorgeous undergarments of sheer, luxurious fabric. As Romeo bent over, and I hate to admit this but I will, I found myself deeply engaged in an internal debate on exactly what kind of undergarments Romeo was wearing and this continued to occupy my mind for quite some time.

My attention eventually shifted to the abstract pictures slowly morphing their way into various images  against the backdrop of the walls of the Capulet's palace, which now seemed to be showing a bulimic Geisha who is slowly dying while Romeo is consumed by feelings of abandonment, his despair now equaling Juliet's as Tebaldo declines to kill him.

In Scene 6 Romeo enters Juliet's tomb, where she's unresponsive to his pleas for her to wake up. He's so bummed he takes the poison too. Juliet rises and does the tableaux vivant of the dead, quite well actually, while Romeo sings his heart out. DiDonato was at her best in this scene and Cabell stood motionless with her arms raised in what must have been an excruciating pose. Juliet comes alive, explains it was all a ruse, but it's too late now, of course. The couple sing together beautifully, but again the lack of physical interaction between them undermines the message, rendering them ultimately as pretend adults playing at being lovers. Bellini scored this penultimate moment beautifully, and as the last note of "Giulietta" passed from DiDonato's lips the magic was palpable. That should have been the moment the curtain fell, but unfortunately Bellini then has everyone rush onstage for a crash and bang ending ala Cavalleria Rusticana and absolutely ruins what could have been a sublime ending. Dolt.

Riccardo Frizza did a fine job with the orchestra.

A brief note on Nixon in China

I'll have a second helping of this, please.

You've probably read the unanimously positive reviews about SF Opera's "Nixon in China," and though I was only going to see it once at the end of the run, both Lisa Hirsch and Josh Kosman strongly recommended seeing it twice, so I went last night and I'm glad I did.

The praise is merited. In fact, if SFO's General Director David Gockley had a better record of putting productions of this caliber onstage with any kind of regularity instead of with maddening infrequency, I'd be an ardent supporter. While it's not going to be everyone's musical cup of tea (I observed numerous departures during both intermissions), no single composer is, of course- even Puccini has his (wrong-headed) detractors- anyone with an interest in opera as an art form needs to take advantage of its presence here and see what all the fuss is about.

While I was watching and listening to it last night, I revelled in its constant musical allusions to Wagner, but this morning I'm also pondering unexpected parallels with thematic aspects of the Ring Cycle. I also awoke to the "News" aria running through my mind. It's all too rare when something this memorable, thought-provoking and challenging shows up on the War Memorial stage, the last time was The Makropulos Affair a couple years ago, so don't miss it.

More than that I'll keep to myself until after I've seen it a second time.

San Francisco Opera: the 2012-13 season

Interior of the War Memorial Opera House. Photo by David Wakely

San Francisco Opera's General Director David Gockley has done the improbable and created an upcoming season I'm actually excited about for the first time during his tenure. Eight operas are scheduled for 2012-13 (I'm not including the world premiere co-production with Cal Performances of The Secret Garden since that's being staged at Zellerbach), and though the season largely follows Gockley's established pattern of presenting a stable of recently staged warhorses, he's also included two premieres of contemporary, English-language operas, with another on the way the following year (based on Stephen King's Dolores Claibourne). That's a bold move in the current climate and the riskiest thing he's done in San Francisco so far. After the two premieres, the appeal of 2012-13 is in the well-cast standard rep not seen locally for a long time. It's the best schedule SFO has announced since Rosenberg's era and hopefully it works as well onstage as it looks on paper.

Rigoletto brings back Michael Yeargan's well-worn production ('06, '01, and '97) for 12 performances. The title role is shared by Zeljko Lucic and Marco Vratogna. His daughter Gilda will be performed by Aleksandra Kurzak and Albina Shagimuratova.  Lucic was good the last time the company staged Verdi's La Forza, but the presence of David Lomeli in the role of the Duke of Mantua makes my choice the cast led by Vratogna. On the other hand, Kurzak recently won great accolades in LA Opera's Cosi, so one probably can't go wrong with either cast. It's a dark and claustrophobic production which I've enjoyed the previous times I've seen it. My one question for director Harry Silverstein is will there be breasts this time- or  is the San Francisco audience too provincial? Luisotti conducts one of Verdi's very best.

Bellini's I Capuleti e i Montecchi (The Capulets and the Montagues) has only been seen on the War Memorial stage once before in 1991. Conductor Riccardo Frizza (last year's Lucrezia) returns  to lead an excellent cast featuring Joyce DiDinato, Eric Owens, Saimir Pirgu (another singer well-reviewed in LA's Cosi) and Nicole Cabell, who seems poised for the next level. The presence of DiDonato and Owens are reason enough to attend, even if a Bel Canto version of Romeo and Juliet isn't necessarily your thing.

Jake Heggie's Moby-Dick makes its local debut after receiving a tremendous reception at its world premiere in Dallas. Ben Heppner and Jay Hunter Morris (Siegfried) share the role of the obsessed Captain Ahab. While Heppner's the more more established singer, the quickly-rising Morris is the one to see. Depending on the state of Heppner's voice, Morris may well end up performing more than the two performances for which he's scheduled. Patrick Summers conducts.

Puccini's Tosca was last staged here in 2009 and its the same Thierry Bosquet set and costumes seen previously for what seems like the last 100 years, but is in fact only the fifth time since 1997. Should still seem fresh, right? Twelve performances with two casts and a battle of the divas between Patricia Racette and Angela Gheorghiu in the title role. Racette's the local favorite, but Gheorghiu's appearances are rarer and she strikes me as the more interesting of the two in the role, which neither have sung in San Francisco before. So personally I'd go with Angela, assuming she actually shows up, but if you've never seen Tosca go with Racette- the supporting cast of Brian Jadge and Mark Delevan certainly trumps Massimo Giordano and Roberto Frontali. Luisotti conducts all performances.

Wagner's Lohengrin hasn't seen the War Memorial stage since 1996 and it returns with what may end up being the strongest cast of the season. The marvelous tenor Brandon Jovanovich sings the title role for the first time. The presence of Kristinn Sigmundsson, Petra Lang, and Brian Mulligan in the tale of the lustful knight all bode well, and though Camilla Nylund is an unknown in these parts, she'd have to muck it up pretty badly to keep this from being first-rate all the way around. The production is new to San Francisco and the only iffy thing about it is whether or not Luisotti can conduct Wagner. He did very well with Strauss two years back, so that's a good omen of what will come from the pit.

The allure that Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffmann (The Tales of Hoffmann) holds for many has thus far eluded me, but I've never seen it performed before. This should be an excellent introduction- Natalie Dessay plays the four loves of Matthew Polenzani's title character, with Alice Coote and Christian Van Horn along for the telling. Conductor Patrick Fournillier ably led Cyrano recently and Laurent Pelly's productions are usually a delight (La Fille du Regiment).

Cosi Fan Tutte is the one opera of Mozart's I absolutely love, so who cares if this is the same production from way back in 2005. It was great then and with a young, vibrant cast featuring Ellie Dehn, Heidi Stober, Susannah Biller and Phillipe Sly, it should be quite fun. Luisotti hasn't convinced me yet that he has any facility with Mozart, but if there's one opera where he can prove himself, it's Cosi.

The world premiere of composer Mark Adamo's The Gospel of Mary Magdalene is bound to be somewhat controversial- or at least it should be if it's done well. Mary has a strong cast featuring Sasha Cooke finally appearing on the other side of Grove Street in the title role, barihunk Nathan Gunn as Jesus, and William Burden, whose singing was the only thing I found worthwhile in last year's Heart of a Soldier, as Peter. Everything else is new, including conductor Michael Christie, making his SFO debut. Everything except the story, that is.

Ranking them in order of personal anticipation, top to bottom:
Lohengrin
Moby-Dick
The Gospel According to Mary Magdalene
I Capuleti e i Montecchi
Les Contes d'Hoffmann
Cosi fan tutte
Rigoletto
Tosca