Author Archives: philip

The Marriage of Figaro – An intimate production

Posted on November 11, 2010 by philip

Last month I had the privilege of attending a Grand Opera performance of Mozart’s  “perfect” opera, The Marriage of Figaro, performed by the San Francisco Opera at War Memorial Opera House.  I was one 3,000 or so present, and I enjoyed it tremendously.  If you’d like to read my review, click here. Continue reading »

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Cyrano de Bergerac – Pla¡cido Domingo sticks his nose into San Francisco

Posted on October 29, 2010 by philip

Several years ago I took a guided tour of the harbor in Antwerp, Belgium.  As we passed each place of interest, the guide would give a short spiel in English and would repeat it three or four times in French, Italian, German, and maybe Flemish.  Speaking in English, he pointed out a statue with a large nose and compared it to Jimmy Durante.   Then when he gave his spiel in Italian the comparison was to “Pinocchio,”   and in German to “Till Eugenspiel;” in French he made a comparison to (you guessed it) Cyrano de Bergerac. Continue reading »

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Madama Butterfly – Svetla Vassileva Superstars in a Superstar Production

Posted on October 21, 2010 by philip

When I go to a performance of Verdi’s La Traviata or Puccini’s La Boheme a small child-like part of me hopes, “Maybe this time will be different.”  Right up until she takes her final breath I wish for Violetta or Mimi to recover.  It wouldn’t take much, you know.  A newly-discovered drug – a doctor’s admission of a faulty diagnosis. Continue reading »

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La Forza del Destino – A Gripping Story of Honor, Love, Revenge, and Redemption

Posted on October 18, 2010 by philip

The plot of La Forza del Destino is really very simple.  Leonara and Don Alvaro are in love.  Alvaro kills Leonora’s father and brother.  He sends Leonora to her dying brother who kills her.  Of course, there are some extenuating circumstances … Continue reading »

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Rheingold Review – MetHD

Posted on October 14, 2010 by philip

The count-down begins: 5 minutes . . .  4 . . . 3 . . .  2 . . . 1 . . .  The theater lights dim, the audience becomes quiet.  There is an air of expectancy in the CinÉArts @ Palo Alto Square Theatre where it is 10 AM Saturday morning, as there is on the giant screen in front of us where it is 1 pm in the Metropolitan Opera House in Lincoln Center New  York City. Continue reading »

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Figaro – You Walk out Humming and Chuckling

Posted on September 29, 2010 by philip

I have only one complaint about this opera.  It’s not with story which is delightful.  It’s not with the music which is perfection.  It’s not with the title which is descriptive.  It’s not with the San Francisco Opera Production I attended last Saturday which was super-excellent.  No, my complaint is with Pierre Beaumarchais for using the same characters in his two plays that were the bases for Rossini’s The Barber of Seville and Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro. Continue reading »

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Aida – A New Definition of Spectacular

Posted on September 27, 2010 by philip

The magic begins with the outer curtain.  When we take our seats on the side aisle in row S, we see an enormous black triangle in a field of scrolled gilt. Continue reading »

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Werther – Beautiful Franco-German Gloom

Posted on September 24, 2010 by philip

There are many points of similarity between Werther which I saw last night and Anna Karenina which I saw last week.  Continue reading »

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Anna Karenina -19th Century Russian Soul with 21st Century American Music

Posted on September 19, 2010 by philip

“Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” – from Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

The overture starts loud and dissonant with lots of percussion.  The first few measures invoke an image of a rushing railroad train.  There is no curtain but the stage is in almost total darkness.  The music continues.  The stage slowly begins to lighten.  Continue reading »

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Wagner’s Ring (Valencia) – Exciting Technology

Posted on September 6, 2010 by philip

If all goes well for me during the coming 2010-11 operatic season, it will be the Year of the Ring. The 12-production Met HD season will be book-ended by new productions of Das Rheingold and Die Walké¼re, the first two operas in the cycle (the last two should follow next year). In November and January the European HD network will present a new production of the same two operas from La Scala. In June, the San Francisco Opera will present the complete cycle produced by their Artistic Adviser Francesca Zambello. And the season began in August 2010 with the European HD showing of final opera in the fantastical production by Carlus Padrissa and La Fura dels Baus which I have just seen. Continue reading »

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