Maria Natale (Santuzza), Delaney Ewert, and Jacob Hohn as villagers
Cavalleria Rusticana, Opera San José
Photo: David Allen, courtesy of Opera San José
Three enthusiastic reviews of Opera San José's verismo double bill:
- Lisa Hirsch, SFCV
- Joshua Kosman, On a Pacific Aisle
- Eddie Reynolds, Theater Eddys
I'm the only one of the three who commented on how loud Cavalleria was, and so I am wondering whether it was an artifact of the set. There isn't a photo showing the entire stage and set, which was much more built out on the audience left stage, so it would have reflected the sound more. I was audience right, Joshua Kosman was audience left. But the orchestra – which was very loud – would not have been affected by that to the extend that the singers were.
The last time I saw this double bill was before the pandemic at San Francisco Opera, and my conclusion at the time was much like Joshua Kosman's: Cav is trash, Pag is a masterpiece. Curiously, I liked Cav better this time around than the last, though Pag is a much better work.
Happy birthday to Alma Deutscher, who turned 21 yesterday and thus shares a birthday with the great Hungarian composer György Kurtág, who turned 100.
