Season Opener

Somehow, delightfully, I have become a ticket magnet of late: thanks to the varied and generous machinations of M. A— and Mlle T—, I found myself last week with three orchestra seats, including one on the center aisle! You know I don't mind standing, but it sure is nice to sit on a cushy chair occasionally.

Regular readers also know by now that I don't do reviews (if I'm big on something I'll just say so; reviews I leave to those better qualified and better paid) and I don't go sniping unless something really deserves to be called out. So here we go...

Tuesday: Ballo

First, congratulations to soprano Erin Wood for a creditable showing as Amelia; I don't envy any singer who has to step in for Deborah Voigt, and especially when she has to step into a production as dreadful as this one.

Apparently in Sweden, entire rooms full of people stand in place for 20 minutes at a stretch without moving, regardless of whether they're singing. In Sweden, conversations with more than two people are held with everyone standing still in straight lines and facing in the same direction. In Sweden, the lack of sunlight has so sapped the energy out of its people that all tempos have become completely lifeless and bogged down, such that even passionate illicit secret love duets become opportunities to think about whether there's any fried chicken left in the refrigerator when you get home. In Sweden, all action stops not just for applause, but for the two seconds after the applause is over to ensure that all dramatic tension dissipates entirely.In Sweden, giant-flag-waving color guards wait in the wings of witches' dens just in case a King drops by for a reading. And in Sweden, witches wear wigs that make them look like Toni Morrison.

There's no point in talking about the singing, because I can't imagine that any of them were able to sing the way they really wanted to due to the lack of a rudder either on stage or in the pit. I couldn't really hear them anyway because the orchestra consistently overbalanced the singers and the singers were consistently placed too far upstage. But again, good on Erin Wood for her SF Opera debut; she has a Myspace page if you want to hear a respectable live Liebestod recording.

Thursday: Berlioz, Foss & Brahms

OK. If you're going to program a piece like Lukas Foss's Time Cycle, how on earth is that helped by introducing it with a ridiculous Berlioz overture? I hadn't heard Time Cycle before, and frankly I would have appreciated the chance to open up my ears before settling in with it. Surely there is something out there that could have led us into Foss's language better than Berlioz. Ives or Copland, maybe? Wagner or Strauss, even! Because poor Dawn Upshaw was up there trying to bring out as much lyricism as she could, sounding half a step removed from Berg, but meanwhile the orchestra's tick tocking away, pretty clearly just trying to play the dynamics accurately, and the audience's slouching grumpily about being ambused with modernism again.

As for Brahms 4, it was curiously aggressive and bland at the same time. The third movement was pumped up so out of proportion to everything around it that it was more manic than giocoso, yet the harrowing silences that should have followed the braaass-TRI-PL-ET! figures in the fourth movement carried no weight at all. Oh, and this note at the end of the second movement?

Um, that needs to be a little bit higher. No, higher still. Closer... Um, it's still not quite lining up... Just a little bit oh never mind, the movement's over.

A warm welcome to our new principal flutist (my concertmate Hannibal mentioned something about having you over for dinner)

Saturday: Rigoletto

And now that I've used up all of my bile, listen up: it's worth your time to hear Paolo Gavanelli and Mary Dunleavy as Rigoletto and Gilda. Their scenes together are lovely, if you can get past the shoebox diorama set. Dunleavy is a charming and affecting Gilda whose acting never slipped into melodrama, and who sang with the light of a young woman in love yet still with plenty of heft. If I go back for another show, I'll look forward to hearing her correct that little bit of pitchiness, as the kids say, in the stuff above the staff, which I'm guessing was just due to opening-night jitters.

As for Gavanelli: bravo, signor. The role sounds like a natural fit, and he sang powerfully, consistenly and richly throughout. This guy, I'd like to hear more of, and you should try to catch him before he finishes his run on October 15. Now, if we could just find a Duke who sounds as virile as Rigoletto, we'd have a cast...

Comments

[sfmike]

For somebody who doesn't like to snipe at things (and I've read you long enough to know that you're being perfectly honest), that was some great sniping. Thanks also for the "Rigoletto" heads up. I wasn't going to go because the story is so sadistic from beginning to end that I've grown to really dislike it, but will be sure to check it out, if only for Ms. Dunleavy.

[Lisa Hirsch]

I was not happy with Dunleavy: I thought there was some pitchiness, I thought that shrieked high note at the end of the "Si, vendetta" duet was awful and won't get better, I thought she was mostly singing notes. Full disclosure: Swenson has spoiled for this role. Some day I probably WILL hear someone sing it as well as or better than she sang it in '97, but I'm not holding my breath.

[Albert]

Hi, remember me? I've had the pleasure of being one of the two abductors of Ms. Dunleavy-- she is a very nice person. I've been moved by the singing of this father/daughter combo. Gavanelli is a trip-- born to play that role. He has great affection for her backstage, and I believe it shows in their performances together.