D.S.'s shares with us her most recent trip to San Francisco Opera:
9 November 2010
Cyrano de Bergerac by Franco Alfano
Photo credit: Cory Weaver
Plácido Domingo can sing anything and I would love it! And, yes, he sang the lead in this opera and I loved it. He and Roberto Alagna have recently revived this rather obscure opera by Alfano, whose main claim to fame was completing Turandot after Puccini’s death. This opera is based on the life story of 17th century poet and freelancer, Cyrano de Bergerac with his grotesque nose and his secret love for Roxane, portrayed beautifully by Spanish soprano, Ainhoa Arteta. It is sprinkled with humour and fight scenes which add to a very entertaining performance. The realistic sets were originally designed for the production at the Téâtre du Châtelet in Paris in 2009. Alfano’s music, though not spectacular or memorable, was very supportive of the singers and actions on stage under the baton of conductor Patrick Fournillier.
Sometimes when I hear a revival of an obscure opera, I come away thinking that there is good reason to leave the opera in obscurity. Such was not the case with Alfano’s Cyrano De Bergerac. Even though the music was somewhat mundane, it is a sweet love story and the opera is well structured and entertaining. It is an opera worth staging and seeing again.
10 November 2010
The Makropulos Case by Leoš Janáček
Photo credit: Cory Weaver
Finnish soprano, Karita Mattila, was absolutely fabulous as Emilia Marty. Her versatility, charisma and stage-presence make this a perfect role for her. It was difficult to believe that this performance was her debut in this role. This was also the premier of a brand new production co-produced with Finnish National Opera, and with Production Designer, Frank Philipp Schlössmann, and Director, Olivier Tambosi. The sets, very effective for this opera, were quite stylized in black, white and shades of grey.
The lush music of Janáček in combination with the stylized stage-setting and the drama in the story made for a very memorable performance.
11 November 2010
Madama Butterfly by Giacomo Puccini
Photo credit: Cory Weaver
Well, two good performances out of three on an opera trip aren’t bad. Unfortunately, this performance was the one not worth seeing. What a mish-mash! Soprano, Daniella Dessi, was mis-cast as Butterfly. Her voice was a heavy Tosca voice, not a Butterfly voice. I am not sure what Director, Jose Maria Condemi, was thinking. Even though the revolving set was very realistic and Japanese-like, there was nothing Japanese about the acting on stage. Hand gestures were very Italian, which was okay for Pinkerton, sung by Stefano Secco, but not for Butterfly, Goro. Prince Yamadori or the Bonze. Butterfly showed no infatuation with Pinkerton in the first act making the end of the first act rather lame. Then Koken stage-hands, borrowed from Kabuki theater, moved props around, which seemed quite unnecessary and rather distracting throughout. The waiting scene with the humming chorus offstage in the second act, which normally is one of the most beautiful scenes in all of opera, was totally ruined by having the black-clad Koken figures revolve the stage a full 360 degrees.
Madama Butterfly, is an opera that I have always considered perfect in construction. Every note and every word is essential in the composition. But obviously, even a perfectly composed opera can be spoiled by a poor production, which is what happened here.
~ D.S. Spring
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