Recommendations for San Francisco Opera 2009/10
Posted Feb 26th, 2009 at 7:16 amSan Francisco Opera is tightening its budget belt this year with one less opera. However to compensate, the roster of great singers just keeps increasing and money well spent, I say. Here’s my take on the season and what’s great and what’s not. Ratings: From One * (if you must miss something this would be a good bet) to Four **** (don’t even think of missing it). What’s your favorite in the lineup?
9/11 to 10/6: Il Trovatore (Verdi). What a great opera to open a season!! Only if you have the best cast, however, and San Francisco is rivaling the Met with its Fall casting. This opera (currently running) is one of the big hits of the Met’s season and two stars will follow the McVicar production from the Met back to San Francisco: Superstar baritone, Dimitri Hvorostovsky, and controversial Verdi soprano, Sondra Radvanovsky. The latter possesses one beautiful voice that fits Verdi’s music like a glove, but she has some big shoes to fill in the role that Leontyne Price still owns (see video below) Stephanie Blythe is luxury casting in the role of Azucena, which leaves only the tenor role in question. Marco Berti, will sing Manrico and while not an exciting performer, he can deliver the vocal goods. One only hopes the whole cast catches fire, which is what this opera demands. ****
9/15-10/3 Il Trittico (Puccini) There’s no time to catch your breath with Trittico following Trovatore. Puccini’s 3 one act operas are especially rare and more so when one soprano assumes all three leading roles in Il Tabarro, Suor Angelica and Gianni Schicchi. The rare soprano who can carry it off these days is Patricia Racette, who will be repeating her feat in Trittico at the Met next season. Racette is a great soprano and she is at the height of her career. However, for about 15 minutes, she will be upstaged by the appearance of the great contralto, Ewa Podles, who makes her belated San Francisco Opera debut as the Zia Principessa in Suor Angelica. This is a must hear/see event for anyone who wants to witness the miracle of a voice. Oh, and then there are appearances by up and coming tenors, Brandon Jovanovich and David Lomeli. You’ll get one exciting operatic event for your money with this one. ****
9/23 to 10/23 Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail (The Abduction from the Seraglio) Mozart. A bit of comic relief will be called for by the time the season’s 3rd offering opens, and Mozart’s German romp will provide it. The cast provides the beautiful singing by the wonderfully elegant tenor, Matthew Polenzani. Constanze will be sung by the remarkable and underappreciated soprano, Mary Dunleavy. It’s perhaps not Mozart’s best, but it certainly is beautifully cast and deserving of your presence. ***
10/13 – 10/31 La Fille du Regiment (Donizetti) Juan Diego Florez, Diana Damrau. Gran Dio, DON’T MISS IT!!!! ****
10/18-11/01 Salome (Strauss) Nadja Michael, soprano, makes her San Francisco Opera debut as the Judean Princess. Grim and grizzley fare submerged in the astounding music of a young Strauss looking to make his mark. ***
11/8 – 12/2 Otello (Verdi) The great news is that you have a chance to hear Verdi’s masterpiece. The fact is though that no one today can sing Otello even approaching the greatness of a Domingo, Vickers or del Monico. Tenor, Johan Botha is the foremost interpreter of the role at the moment, and it will be interesting to hear his take not only on Verdi but also Shakespeare. Svelta Vassileva is the innocent Desdemona. Maestro Nicola Luisotti, San Francisco Opera’s new Music Director conducts the ultimate Italian Opera. *** (**** if Domingo flies in at the last moment to sing the Moor).
6/5-7/1 Faust (Gounod) Faust used to be the most popular opera around the turn of the last century. It opened the then new Metropolitan Opera when Gounod was still a household name. In recent times, however, Gounod’s other masterpiece, Romeo et Juliette seems to have replaced Faust in the popular repertoire, thanks to the number of young artists who can sing and make you believe that they are barely pubescent. Patricia Racette returns as Marguerite and the wonderful bass, John Reylea is Mephistopheles. Tenor, Stephano Secco is Faust. ***
6/9-7/2 La Fanciulla del West (The Girl of the Golden West) Puccini. The Puccini rarity is celebrating the 100th anniversary of its world debut at the Metropolitan Opera in 1910. Maestro, Nicola Luisotti, whose family knew Puccini and who carries on the great Italian operatic tradition with keen insight, will conduct. It is a strange work, not only because of its subject matter (the gold rush in California) but also because Puccini was pressuring himself to compose with a more “modern” bent. While he succeeds to some extent, he fails because he ignores that his basic Italian musical instincts were correct (hence Puccini rules today in opera and Debussy is a rarely acquired operatic taste). The cast is excellent: Soprano, Deborah Voigt as Minnie ( one wishes that she would focus a bit less on her figure and more on her voice and acting these days), Salvatore Licitra (will he show up and deliver? ) as Dick Johnson and Roberto Frontali as Jack Rance. A must see if you plan to take my SRJC Fall Class ****
6/10-6/30. Die Walkure (Wagner). This is the 2nd installment of the 4 opera Ring Cycle scheduled to be performed in its entirety a few seasons hence. The most accessible of the ring operas for Wagner newcomers, it boasts a great cast of Wagnerians including, soprano Nina Stemme as Brunnhilde, tenor, Christopher Ventris as Siegmund and Bass Baritone, Mark Delavan as Wotan. Budgetary woes have taken some oomph out of this Mary Zimmerman production, which is originating at Washington National Opera, so its survival not only depends on its completion in San Francisco but also in Washington. ***
Leontyne Price Boston, 1982 as Leonora, Il Trovatore. D’amor sull’ali rosee