| Date and venue | Title | Submitted by |
|---|---|---|
| 5-Jun-2013 War Memorial Opera House | Matthew Polenzani is superb in San Francisco Opera's Tales of Hoffmann | Jeffery S. McMillan |
 The return of Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann to the stage of San Francisco Opera on Wednesday night was a welcome and long overdue event. Last heard here in 1996, this exquisite masterpiece of drama, comedy, and timeless musical inspiration has never occupied a significant role in the company’s history, but hopefully the enthusiastic response of the large and appreciative opening night audience will precipitate a local reappraisal.Read full review... | ||
| 16-Nov-2012 War Memorial Opera House | Patricia Racette is remarkable as Tosca in San Francisco | Jeffery S. McMillan |
 Continuing the experiment from the opening of the season, San Francisco Opera’s current run of Tosca has several performances occurring on consecutive days or in close proximity, necessitating two different casts. The Thursday opening made headlines when the leading lady was felled by illness and a new talent, Melody Moore, made her mark in storybook fashion. I attended the second night, when a cast anchored by Puccini heroine extraordinaire Patricia Racette made a persuasive case that this was the Tosca cast to see.Read full review... | ||
| 20-Oct-2012 War Memorial Opera House | Lohengrin returns to San Francisco in effective new production | Jeffery S. McMillan |
 Wagner’s Lohengrin was the last work the master completed before settling into a mid-career six-year slump. During this compositional hiatus, he wrote the poems for his Ring operas and ruminated in print on various topics, musical and otherwise, but work on the music dramas essentially ceased.Read full review... | ||
| 10-Oct-2012 War Memorial Opera House | Jake Heggie's Moby-Dick triumphs in San Francisco | Jeffery S. McMillan |
 Though reports of the work’s importance and dramatic power have attended it since its 2010 premiere in Dallas, I doubt many in the audience of the War Memorial Opera House on Wednesday night were prepared for the impact of Jake Heggie’s Moby-Dick. After nearly three hours of gripping drama and emotionally resonant musical storytelling, the tale of the crew of the Pequod and their pursuit of the white whale concluded in a deathly quiet, the audience sitting in stunned silence. The thunderous applause that followed was effusive and cathartic – what a journey!Read full review... | ||
| 3-Oct-2012 War Memorial Opera House | Bellini's I Capuleti e i Montecchi in San Francisco | Jeffery S. McMillan |
 In the last few decades, Bellini’s I Capuleti e i Montecchi has flirted with standard repertory status, but it has not sufficiently won the hearts of opera-goers to warrant more than the occasional production. Though blessed with some of the composer’s finest melodies, the opera has problems for modern audiences. Firstly, the tale does not follow Shakespeare’s version of the star-cross’d lovers’ story; the protagonists are already in love when the opera begins, which means no ball, no love at first sight, no balcony scene.Read full review... | ||
| 8-Sep-2012 War Memorial Opera House | San Francisco Opera opens 90th season with Rigoletto | Jeffery S. McMillan |
 The San Francisco Opera, one of the big American houses that has exhibited commendable fiscal resourcefulness while maintaining its artistic standards, selected a conservative opener for its 90th season with a revival of its de Chirico-inspired production of Rigoletto. During these tough economic times, trotting out an old warhorse, by itself, is no strategy for the long-view, but the company introduced a twist to get the most out of Verdi's tale of vengeance.Read full review... | ||
| 29-Jun-2012 War Memorial Opera House | An English Magic Flute at San Francisco Opera | Jeffery S. McMillan |
 In keeping with its summer season of novelties, San Francisco Opera have produced a new English-language production of Mozart's The Magic Flute. Advertisements for the production showed baritone Nathan Gunn in a green, full-body leotard as a sort of frogman of a Papageno, leaping in the air and wearing a manic expression. This image on posters and direct mailing salvos implied a Romper Room-styled Magic Flute was coming to town: bring the kids for some good-ol' family fun.Read full review... | ||
| 17-Jun-2012 War Memorial Opera House | Nixon in China reaches San Francisco | Jeffery S. McMillan |
 It’s difficult to believe that the current run of John Adams’ Nixon in China at the San Francisco Opera marks the opera’s local premiere. Adams is not only one of the leading composers of his generation, but he is also a celebrated local hero. In 2005, his third opera Doctor Atomic was given its world premiere at San Francisco Opera, and decades earlier he was composer in residence at the San Francisco Symphony. How is it that Nixon in China, arguably the work that first brought him international acclaim, has never been mounted here?Read full review... | ||
| 12-Jun-2012 War Memorial Opera House | Verdi's Attila returns to San Francisco… with a vengeance! | Jeffery S. McMillan |
 In an attempt to persuade Attila the Hun to spare Italy from the scorch and burn policy, the corrupt Roman general Ezio says, "Avrai tu l'universo, resti l'Italia a me," ("You can have the universe, but leave Italy for me"). The two warlords were not the only ones who stood to profit handsomely when Verdi’s Attila returned to San Francisco's War Memorial Opera House on Tuesday night in Gabriele Lavia’s new staging (a co-production with Milan's La Scala).Read full review... | ||
| 11-Nov-2011 War Memorial Opera House | Stylishly sung San Francisco revival of Handel's "Xerxes" is not to be missed | Stephen Raskauskas |
 “A revival of a revival of a revival” might describe Handel’s practice of reviving his own works. This highly acclaimed revival production of Handel's Xerxes received it best performance to date with a star-studded cast.
Xerxes tells the tale of two brothers, Xerxes and Arsamenes, both competing for the same bride – Romilda. Though Romilda and Arsamenes are betrothed, Atalanta, Romilda’s sister, attempts to thwart their love. The plot is further enriched through many disguises and additional characters.
Read full review... | ||
