Author Archives: philip

SF Opera Ring – Part I, Introduction

Posted on July 15, 2011 by philip

The past week has been an extraordinary experience. In the course of 6 days I spent some 17 hours in seat R1 of the War Memorial Opera House in San Francisco watching and listening to Wagner’s complete Ring cycle; the 3rd and last cycle of the 2011 summer season of the San Francisco Opera. Continue reading »

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Italian Girl in Algiers – Brave Heroine Rescues Helpless Hero from Fate Worse than Death

Posted on June 24, 2011 by philip

What’s not to like? Music by Rossini – always pleasant and hummable; Improbable plot – so what else is new in opera; happy ending – I mean really happy – good guys get what they want and bad guys turn out to be not bad at all. You walk out of the theatre humming melodies, chuckling, and feeling good. Continue reading »

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Die Walké¼re at the Met – Part II of Wagner’s epic cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen

Posted on May 27, 2011 by philip

PART I    THE OPERA

Last October, as the final curtain descended on Das Reingold, we left our heroes, The Aesir (the gods) ascending the magic rainbow bridge to their new home, Valhalla. Continue reading »

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Dido and Aeneas and La Vida Breve – Two short tragic operas form an interesting combination

Posted on May 25, 2011 by philip

The evening of Friday, May 20, 2011 began with Dido and Aeneas, an opera written by the English composer Henry Purcell in the late 17th century. Although it is written in three acts with a total of 5 listed scenes, it takes only about an hour and is played without a break. Continue reading »

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Rigoletto in Mantua – A movie shot live in the Duke’s hometown

Posted on May 18, 2011 by philip

Rigoletto is not like any other character in all of opera. Continue reading »

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The Cat Transformed into a Woman – The last of two one-act operas separated by one intermission and millions of emotional miles

Posted on May 18, 2011 by philip

It was a somber crowd that meandered back into the auditorium after the intermission of Cav & Cat. But we didn’t stay somber very long. All of us Pocket Opera regulars know that the combination of Donald Pippin’s translation and Jacques Offenbach’s music will leave us laughing and humming regardless of the particular title. And it only took Donald’s two-sentence introduction to start the new members of the audience chuckling. Continue reading »

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Cavalleria Rusticana – The first of two one-act operas separated by one intermission and millions of emotional miles

Posted on May 18, 2011 by philip

A true music lover (male) is defined as a man who hears a girl singing in her bathtub and puts his ear to the keyhole. There were no bathtubs around to test this definition, but judging by the number of happy faces in the lobby at intermission there were a lot of music lovers in the audience at Pocket Opera this afternoon. Continue reading »

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Il Trovatore – It all came together

Posted on April 30, 2011 by philip

Saturday, April 30, 2011: During the 5 minute countdown to the start of today’s opera Ellen asked me, “Is this your favorite opera?” I replied to the effect that all operas are my favorites, all Verdi operas are my special favorite operas, but Il Trovatore is not one of my special special favorite Verdi operas. Continue reading »

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Capriccio – Strauss’ Last Opera

Posted on April 29, 2011 by philip

Let’s play a little game. Match the three Strauss operas in List A with the three words in List B. Continue reading »

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La Bohème – Opera San JosÉ Produces a Winner

Posted on April 26, 2011 by philip
“La Bohème is Puccini at his most tender and sympathetic. He loves these foolish young Parisians because he was once a struggling bohemian just like them. He understands their happiness and pain, and he is never judgmental. His music pierces our hearts with its beauty and directness. For generations, La Bohème has been the best first opera, the best date opera, and, for many, the best opera.”
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