Walt Disney Concert Hall
Photo by Lisa Hirsch
I don't usually do review round-ups for performances I haven't seen, but in this case, I will. A semi-staged Die Walküre was among Gustavo Dudamel's last performances as music director of the LA Phil. I had thought of going, but I thought I had no hope of getting press tickets; writers in Southern California had the assignments for SFCV and Parterre Box. But Michael Strickland got a press ticket for one act, so maybe I could have as well. (Of course, I would have missed last week's excitement if I'd been away.)
The opera was performed twice, both times one act per night, and yes, if you wanted to see the whole thing you needed three tickets, with prices going up to $350 per. (Ouch.) Jim Farber mentions the enormous overtime that two regular performances would have entailed; for S.F. Opera, my understanding is that performance overtime starts at five hours, which is shorter than Die Walküre typically runs.
Here are the reviews I've seen so far.
- Joshua Barone, N.Y. Times (gift link)
- Mark Swed, L.A. Times
- Michael Anthonio, Parterre Box
- Richard Ginell, SFCV
- Jim Farber, SFCV
- Harlow Robinson, Classical Voice North America
- Harvey Steiman, Seen and Heard International
- Matthew Richard Martinez, Bachtrack
- Michael Strickland, SF Civic Center
- David Bratman, Kalimac's Corner
Meanwhile....Joshua Kosman is in Berlin, seeing Donald Runnicles conducting Stephen Herheim's Ring at the Deutsch Oper Berlin. I might be just a little envious.
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