Three La BohËmes in ten days, a critic’s nightmare that was more fun than a barrel of monkeys.
Author: Michael Milenski
Otello in Z¸rich
War and destruction is everywhere these days, not least in Pesaro where Graham Vick staged a lethal MosÈ in Egitto last August, nor less so in San Francisco where baritone Thomas Hampson perished as Rick Rescorla in Heart of a Soldier last September.
Xerxes in San Francisco
No cuts, not a single one, nearly four hours of non-stop arias, and its only hit tune happens within the first five minutes.
Turandot in San Francisco
The magnificent David Hockney Turandot production burst again onto the War Memorial stage with a new cast and conductor that recaptured its potential to make this fairytale into great opera.
Carmen in San Francisco
DÈja vu. Well, sort of. Last time around (2006) there was a Carmen and then another who canceled leaving San Francisco Opera in the lurch.
Don Giovanni in San Francisco
Ossia Maestro Watching in Fog City. Ten years ago it was German provincialism, now it is the Italian sort wanting to take root in the War Memorial Opera House.
Lucrezia Borgia in San Francisco
Bad news travels fast. Though you are about to read another version of how American diva RenÈe Fleming failed to bring Lucrezia Borgia alive, let us begin by discussing a few other things you already know.
Turandot in San Francisco
Los Angeles has been good to Turandot. The gritty 1984 Andre Serban production inaugurated an opera company in Los Angeles where a mere eight years later L.A. Opera bestowed the splendid Luciano Berio ending upon the world in an uber-pompous Gian-Carlo del Monaco production.
Heart of a Soldier, San Francisco
The house lights dimmed, SFO General Director David Gockley instructed us to stand and sing the Star Spangled Banner. This crucial moment revealed the intentions and complexities of this fine production at San Francisco Opera.
Mosè in Egitto and Adelaide di Borgogna in Pesaro
It was a no-brainer. The Old Testament Egyptians had to become today’s Palestinians.