Grail against the machine
A new production of Parsifal at San Francisco Opera stirred something deep inside Michael Anthonio about how music soothes the soul
Robert Innes Hopkins
13 pieces since 2016 — at 4 companies, most often at San Francisco Opera.
13
pieces
4
companies
11
years
It’s Brittany, bitch
Sparks flew when the San Francisco Opera opened their new production of Richard Wagner’s monumental Tristan und Isolde on Saturday, October 19th, at the War Memorial Opera House.
S’amuse-bouche
Lyric Opera of Chicago has opened its new season with a revival of its tried and true 2006 production of Verdi’s sixteenth opera, Rigoletto, one of his most tuneful and dramatic works (I attended the Sunday matinée performance).
Champagne tastes
Oh, La traviata, how do I love thee? Let me count the recordings.
Love potion no. 8 1/2
A perfect escape for a city laden with recent layoffs and job cuts coming into Holiday season
Color my world
San Francisco Opera has unveiled a brand-new production of Giuseppe Verdi’s warhorse classic La traviata, the first “to be built in San Francisco Opera’s scene and costume shops in 35 years.”
The brew that is true
This is an exuberant, uplifting, and joyous Elisir, and, for once, it was actually laugh-out-loud funny.
On the edge of my seat
The San Francisco Opera became the first US opera company to present a full-blown production indoors on its home turf this season when they ushered the US opera audience into 2021-22 Season on Saturday September 21 with a stellar performance of Giacomo Puccini’s perennial favorite Tosca.
First action hero
Director David Pountney and his splendid designers have brought Lyric Opera of Chicago a visually spectacular Siegfried full of daring ideas.
Fathers’ day
How do we celebrate a long career in opera, particularly one as illustrious as Plácido Domingo‘s?
Underdressed
For this revisiting of Tosca, San Francisco Opera decided to highlight the glamorous lifestyle of the Italian soprano Carmen Giannattasio.
Girls on horseback
It’s a fairly traditional post-Patrice-Chereau Ring, set during the Industrial Revolution.
A new beginning
Lyric Opera of Chicago’s 2016-17 season got off to an exciting start on Saturday night with Wagner’s Das Rheingold.