That would have been nice to hear Fanciulla when it was only 6 years old!
I loved the production they did at LA Opera with Gwyneth Jones and Placido Domingo in 1991. At the great end of Act II, where Minnie ecstatically claims that Dick is hers, Jones unleashed some laser-beam high C's that easily rode over the orchestra, they were powerful even up in the top balcony. Amazing.
I saw the SFO Frau ohne Schatten in 1989, I loved it. Gwyneth was wonderful as Barak's wife. Good cast, Anja Silja was great as Die Amme and Patricia Racette was the voice of the falcon.
There was also the incredible SFO Elektra in 1991, Jones' cry of "Orest!" was orgasmic, she had no problem singing any of the part. Plus, it was an incredible Andrei Serban production, with blood and corpses and nudity and slabs of meat everywhere. I'll never forget James King as Aegisth walking around with a live snake (hope the link works):
http://tinyurl.com/obqe4kd
Racette (her again!) was the fifth maid but best of all was Christian Thielemann's conducting, incredible.
*Sigh* I miss the days when SFO was interesting (see: the production of The Fiery Angel). :-)
I saw that Frau as well but 1991 was during my operatic hiatus. I've heard from any number of people (including Jones, sorta, whom I phoned ten years ago about an unrelated matter) that she was amazing.
The link worked, though it is not clickable as publshed (I hate Blogger sometimes). That snake turned up subsequently in another production. I think it belonged to Brian Asawa.
That would have been nice to hear Fanciulla when it was only 6 years old!
ReplyDeleteI loved the production they did at LA Opera with Gwyneth Jones and Placido Domingo in 1991. At the great end of Act II, where Minnie ecstatically claims that Dick is hers, Jones unleashed some laser-beam high C's that easily rode over the orchestra, they were powerful even up in the top balcony. Amazing.
I believe I heard her three times in the 80s in SF and she was great twice.
ReplyDeleteI saw the SFO Frau ohne Schatten in 1989, I loved it. Gwyneth was wonderful as Barak's wife. Good cast, Anja Silja was great as Die Amme and Patricia Racette was the voice of the falcon.
ReplyDeleteThere was also the incredible SFO Elektra in 1991, Jones' cry of "Orest!" was orgasmic, she had no problem singing any of the part. Plus, it was an incredible Andrei Serban production, with blood and corpses and nudity and slabs of meat everywhere. I'll never forget James King as Aegisth walking around with a live snake (hope the link works):
http://tinyurl.com/obqe4kd
Racette (her again!) was the fifth maid but best of all was Christian Thielemann's conducting, incredible.
*Sigh* I miss the days when SFO was interesting (see: the production of The Fiery Angel). :-)
I saw that Frau as well but 1991 was during my operatic hiatus. I've heard from any number of people (including Jones, sorta, whom I phoned ten years ago about an unrelated matter) that she was amazing.
ReplyDeleteThe link worked, though it is not clickable as publshed (I hate Blogger sometimes). That snake turned up subsequently in another production. I think it belonged to Brian Asawa.
Here's the link in clickable form.