[Left: Catherine Naglestad (Photo: Artists Management Zurich)]
By Georgia Rowe [Contra Costa Times, 19 September 2005]
“Rodelinda” made its first appearance at San Francisco Opera on Saturday night, and it was sensational. Handel’s 1725 baroque masterpiece had never been presented on the company’s main stage before; the demands of the work are colossal, and many opera companies simply leave it to early music specialists. But the 3-hour, 35-minute production unveiled at the War Memorial Opera House defied expectations.