Michael Cavanagh

Irene Roberts (Dorabella), Nicole Heaston (Despina), Nicole Cabell (Fiordaligi)

Cosi fan tutte, November, 2021

Photo: Cory Weaver, courtesy of San Francisco Opera

Michael Cavanagh, who directed seven San Francisco Opera productions between 2012 and 2022, died on March 13, 2024. He was 62 and died of leptomeningeal cancer. This news didn't get a lot of attention in the Bay Area, because it dropped the day before the disastrous news that Esa-Pekka Salonen would be leaving the San Francisco Symphony.

Here's what Cavanagh directed at SFO:

John Adams’ NIXON IN CHINA (2011-12 season) – San Francisco Opera premiere

7 performances; opened June 8, 2012

 

Carlisle Floyd’s SUSANNAH (2014-15 season) – New Production

5 performances; opened September 6, 2014

 

Donizetti’s LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR (2015-16 season) – New Production

7 performances; opened October 8, 2015

 

Ana Sokolović’s SVADBA-WEDDING (2015-16 season) - SF Opera Lab premiere

7 performances; opened April 2, 2016

 

Mozart’s THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO (2019-20 season) – New Production, *Mozart-Da Ponte Trilogy

8 performances, opened October 11, 2019

 

Mozart’s COSI FAN TUTTE (2021-22 season) – New Production, *Mozart-Da Ponte Trilogy

5 performances; opened November 21, 2021

 

Mozart’s DON GIOVANNI (2021-22 season) – New Production, *Mozart-Da Ponte Trilogy

8 performances; opened June 4, 2022

I missed Susannah, because I had pneumonia that year, but I saw the rest. I thought that The Marriage of Figargo and Don Giovanni had significant flaws, but the other productions were all excellent, and Cosi was among the greatest productions I have ever seen, sly, human, very funny, and with the ambiguity the opera demands. RIP, Michael Cavanagh.

San Francisco Opera Relief Fund

War Memorial Opera House, SF

Photo by me

Like nearly every other musical organization in the U.S., San Francisco Opera isn't able to sell tickets to much, if anything, these days: future performances that might or might not take place, special events such as the scheduled drive-in screening of Lucia di Lammermoor on October 25, and...what else? And the company would like to continue paying company members, even if at greatly reduced salaries.

So now there's a matching challenge, from various wealthy sponsors. I'll note that John and Cynthia Fry Gunn donated some $40 million to the company a few years back, sponsoring the new music / commissioning project, I believe.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA (October 13, 2020) — San Francisco Opera announces the launch of the Company Relief Challenge, a $5 million matching fund to help underwrite the Company’s support of its members and sustain San Francisco Opera through the unprecedented disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic. The fund will match one-to-one all annual gifts, pledges and donated ticket funds through November 23, 2020. This critical challenge is made possible by the inspiring generosity of longtime Company sponsors John and Cynthia Fry Gunn, Pitch and Cathie Johnson, and Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem. 

“San Francisco Opera has always enjoyed extraordinary support from the community, but the dedication our donors have shown during this crisis is truly phenomenal,” said San Francisco Opera Association President Keith Geeslin. “I am so grateful to John and Cynthia, Pitch and Cathie, and Maria and Jan for their generous leadership in supporting the people of the Company and inspiring others to follow their example.”

San Francisco Opera General Director Matthew Shilvock stated: “We are a company of makers and creators, each season employing hundreds of the world’s leading singers, instrumentalists, designers, dancers, crew members, administrators and more. We are deeply grateful both to our Company members who are making such deep sacrifices right now and to the community of opera lovers that is sustaining these incredible employees and artists, allowing us to present world-class opera long into the future. The support that this challenge will make possible ensures we will come back to an exciting future that includes Eun Sun Kim’s inaugural 2021–22 Season and our 2022–23 Centennial Season with confidence, optimism and creativity.”

For more information or to donate to San Francisco Opera’s Company Relief Challenge, visit sfopera.com/donate or call San Francisco Opera Donor Services at (415) 565-3212.

The global pandemic has caused the cancellation of San Francisco Opera’s Summer 2020 and Fall 2020 seasons. During the shutdown, the Company continues to engage with audiences and share great artistry worldwide through new initiatives including Opera is ON, streams of past performances, the Opera Aficionado interactive education series and alternative programming such as the virtual event Celebrating the Summer Season. Over the past months, as health orders have permitted, limited work has resumed at San Francisco Opera’s Scene Shop and Costume Shop. The construction of a new orchestra shell and multilevel set of Fidelio (the new production which was to have premiered last month) will allow the Company to be innovative and flexible in its programming. The Costume Shop has begun creating costumes for future productions while continuing to produce thousands of face masks for Bay Area essential workers. The shutdown has also allowed the final phase of the War Memorial Opera House seat upgrade project to take place this fall and winter, ensuring a more comfortable and accessible opera-going experience when performances resume in the Opera House.

My thought on this: if you can, support the local artistic organizations that are important to you.
 

More Opera is On from SFO

 

War Memorial Opera House

Photo by me

Here's what's coming from SFO:

This week: Nozze di Figaro

 
October 31–November 1: Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor: Ossonce; Dessay, Filanoti, Viviani. 2008. I've never seen this cast/conductor/production.

November 7–8: Verdi’s Un Ballo in Maschera (A Masked Ball): Luisotti; Di Giacomo, Vargas, Hampson, Zajick. 2014.

November 14–15: Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov: Sinaisky; Ramey, Uhlenhopp, Kowaljow, Ognovenk, Yang. 2008.

November 21–22: Verdi’s Rigoletto: Luisotti; Demuro, Lucic, Kurzak, Silvestrelli. 2012.

November 28–29: Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’Amore (The Elixir of  Love). Campanella; Mula, Vargas, Corbelli.

Hymel Out of San Francisco Opera Roméo et Juliette

Back in January, I expressed some....concerns...about the casting for San Francisco Opera's opening work, Gounod's Roméo et Juliette. I heard a couple of weeks back that Bryan Hymel was present, singing, and sounding good; then, last week, the rumors started, and now:

SAN FRANCISCO, CA (September 3, 2019) — San Francisco Opera today announced a cast change for Charles Gounod’s Romeo and Juliet (Roméo et Juliette), which opens the Company’s 97th season on September 6, 2019 and runs for seven performances through October 1 at the War Memorial Opera House. Samoan-born New Zealand tenor Pene Pati, originally scheduled to sing Romeo on October 1, will perform the role in all performances, replacing Bryan Hymel who has withdrawn for personal reasons.

Pati makes his role debut as Romeo, one of the great lyric roles of the French repertory, opposite 2017 Richard Tucker Award-winning soprano Nadine Sierra (who adds Juliet to her gallery of San Francisco Opera heroines, which includes the Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro, Pamina in Die Zauberflöte and the title role of Lucia di Lammermoor). As previously scheduled, for the final performance on October 1 the role of Juliet will be performed by Egyptian-born New Zealand soprano Amina Edris, marking a rare instance when a husband-wife duo (Pati and Edris) will perform opposite each other in the title roles. The three artists, all making role debuts with this production, are alumni of the Merola Opera Program (Pati 2013; Sierra 2010; Edris 2015) and San Francisco Opera‘s Adler Fellowship Program (Pati 2016, 2017; Sierra 2011, 2012; Edris 2016, 2017).

My personal record with this very talented singer:

• I heard him at San Francisco Opera in the opening and closing performances of Les Troyens, the Troy scenes of a third, and Cory Bix at a third complete performance.
• Cancelled Raoul in Les Huguenots in Paris, October, 2018.
• Cancelled Enée in Les Troyens in Paris, February, 2019.
• Cancelled Roméo in Roméo et Juliette, San Francisco, September, 2019.

Metropolitan Opera Cast Change (Iolanta)

From the Met:

Alexey Dolgov will sing Vaudémont in Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta in tonight’s season premiere performance, replacing Matthew Polenzani, who is ill. 

Russian tenor Alexey Dolgov adds a new role to his repertory as Vaudémont. His first Met performance was as Edgardo in Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor during the company’s 2011 tour to Japan followed by mainstage performances as Cassio in Verdi’s Otello and Lensky in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin. Upcoming and recent performances include the title role in Massenet’s Werther at the Israeli Opera, Lensky at Washington National Opera, and Pinkerton in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly at Seattle Opera and the Bavarian State Opera. He reprised Cassio earlier this season at the Met.

The cast for Iolanta includes Sonya Yoncheva in the title role, Alexey Markov as Robert, Elchin Azizov as Ibn-Hakia, and Vitalij Kowaljow as René. Henrik Nánási conducts.

Performances of the double bill of Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta and Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle run through February 14, 2019.

San Francisco Opera 97th Season, 2019-20

Edward Parks as Steve Jobs

Photo: Ken Howard / Santa Fe Opera

San Francisco Opera today announced its 97th season, which opens on September 6, 2019. Like 2018-19, next season will have eight operas, still down from the 9 or 10 that the company has performed recently, and far down from the 11 to 13 staged at the turn of the 21st century.

The company remains without a music director heading into 2019-20, and in an interview, General Director Matthew Shilvock noted that they're "still in a very exciting period of discovery and exploration. We're still getting to know new conductors, with three new ones this season and reacquainting ourselves with Lawrence Renes, who conducted 2012's Nixon in China. I believe that a [potential] music director has to go through the full rehearsal and production cycle, as well the audience engagement process. The music director does a lot to set the musical values of the company."

Asked about the possibility of the retirement or departure of orchestral principals, who would typically be hired by the music director and a musician committee, Shilvock noted that the company is working closely with the orchestra on the protocols for such an eventuality, should it take place before the appointment of the next music director. As for the length of the season, he said that while the company regularly explores how to lengthen the season, it's most important to maintain the artistic quality that San Francisco Opera audiences expect, rather than try for greater quantity.

Of the eight productions in 2019-21, six are new to SFO, with two revivals. The season cannily balances the season across a wide chronological span, from Baroque opera, through Mozart, 19th century German and Italian works, and into the 20th and 21st centuries.

Edward Parks as Steve Jobs

Photo: Ken Howard / Santa Fe Opera

At the 21st century end of that range, the season includes an eagerly-awaited San Francisco Opera co-production, Mason Bates' The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs, which premiered in Santa Fe in 2017 and focuses on the life of the Silicon valley icon and Apple founder. SFO will use the Santa Fe Opera production, with its original cast and conductor.

Shilvock said that Bates and librettist Mark Campbell have made some changes, expanding and deepening the role of Laurene Powell Jobs. These changes will be heard for the first time at the upcoming Seattle Opera production. "It's very exciting for us, as a company, to be involved in the process of developing a new work in it formative years," said Shilvock. "We're planning some exciting events to go with the production, and we think it will be a great entry point to opera with members of the tech community. It explores the stresses of competition and the tension between work and family, and our hope is that people will see the opera a not just a biography, but reflective of the community."

2014 production of Partenope

Photo: Cory Weaver / San Francisco Opera

The two revivals are Olivier Tambosi's 2006 production of Puccini's Manon Lescaut, which stars Liannna Haroutounian in the title role and Brian Jagde as her lover Des Grieux, former music director Nicola Luisotti conducting, and Christopher Alden's production of Handel's Partenope, first seen here in 2014. Daniela Mack and Alek Shrader remain from the original cast, with soprano Louise Alder making her company in the title role. Countetenors Franco Fagioli and Jakub Józef Orlinski also make company debuts. The recent Adler Fellow Hadleigh Adams rounds out the cast. Christopher Moulds conducts; he will also conduct this season's Orlando.

Bryan Hymel

The season opens with Gounod's Romeo and Juliet, an opera not seen at SFO in 31 years. It will star Bryan Hymel (last seen as Enée in Les Troyens) and Nadine Sierra as Shakespeare's lovers, with Lucas Meachem as Mercutio and James Creswell as Frian Lawrence. Former Adler Fellows (and husband and wife) Pene Pati and Amina Edris sing the lovers inthe final performance. Yves Abel return to the podium.

Billy Budd

Photo: Alastair Muir

The fall season continues with the return of Britten's Billy Budd, in a production from Glyndbourne Opera that stars debuting baritone John Chest as Billy, tenor William Burden as Captain Vere, and bass-baritone Christian Van Horn as Claggart, with Renes conducting. Matthew Shilvock has commented in the past about the importance of staging 20th c. classics, including the operas of Benjamin Britten, and this is the first fruit of that commitment.

Michael Sumuel, Figaro in Le Nozze di Figaro

Jeanine de Bique, Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro

An exciting new production of The Marriage of Figaro will also be featured in the fall season. Directed by Michael Cavanaugh (Nixon, Lucia di Lammermoor, Susannah), it will be the first of a planned series of new productions of the three great Mozart-da Ponte operas, with Cosi fan Tutte and Don Giovanni to follow. In Cavanaugh's staging, the three operas will be moved to a mansion located in the United States, and Cosi and Don Giovanni will be relocated in time.  Michael Sumuel returns to the company as Figaro, with debuting soprano Jeanine De Bique, a native of Trinidad, as Susanna. Henrik Nánási will conduct.

Le Nozze di Figaro

Production design by Erhard Rom

Asked about the possibility of intersectional interpretation of the works, since Figaro will star two Black singers, Shilvock remarked that"as we worked through the new productions with Cavanaugh, the idea of transporting the revolutionary fervor from [18th century Europe to the revolution fervor of America at that time made a lot of sense. The exploration of racial tensions isn't a requirement, but the casting will help explore the development of race relations in the United States. It will be a powerful way to help audiences engage with the opera."

Hansel and Gretel

Cory Weaver / San Francisco Opera / Royal Opera

The fall season closes with a new co-production, with the Royal Opera, Covent Garden, of Englebert Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel, starring Sasha Cooke and Heidi Stober as the siblings and Michaela Martens and Alfred Walker as their parents, with Robert Brubaker as the Witch. This production has already been seen in London.

Partenope and The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs will be performed during the summer of 2020, as will a new production of Verdi's early opera Ernani. Last seen here in 1984, the Lyric  Opera of Chicago production will star Russell Thomas, making his role debut as Ernani, and debuting soprano Michelle Bradley as Elivra. Simone Piazzola and Christian Van Horn round out the cast, with James Gaffigan conducting.

The season does not include any productions at the Taube Atrium Theater. In response to this questiion, Shilvock said that the entire Wilsey Center "has been transformative for the company, by bringing together so many functions under one roof, transforming communications among the different groups, and giving us a new and important space for orchestra rehearsals when the opera house pit can't be used. The Center is in active and regular use by the company, but it's expensive to put on performances in the Atrium Theater, and main stage performance quality takes priority. We don't have current plans for productions there because of the financial challenges of adding new programming elements."

In closing, Shilvock remarked that he's very excited about the debuting singers, such as sopranos Louise Alder and Jennifer Davis [the Countess in Nozze] and about the many role debuts as well, including Thomas as Ernani and Bryan Hymel as Romeo. "Singers are very appreciative of the welcoming nature of our audience, and so they are happy to take on new roles for us. I'm proud of the number of debut we have this season and of the opportunities we give to these singers."
Season summary:

• Romeo et Juliette, Gounod, with Bryan Hymel (Romeo), Nadine Sierra (Juliette), Lucas Meachem (Mercutio), James Creswell (Friar Lawrence), conducted by Yves Abel. Opéra de Monte Carlo / Teatro Carlo Felice co-production directed by Jean-Louis Grinda. Pene Pati and Amina Edris sing the title roles for one performance. September 6 to October 1, 2019.
• Billy Budd, Britten, with John Chest (Billy), William Burden (Vere), Christian Van Horn (Claggert), conducted by Lawrence Renes. Glyndbourne Opera production directed by Michael Grandage. September 7 to 22, 2019.
• Le Nozze di Figaro, Mozart, with Michael Sumuel (Figaro), Jeanine De Bique (Susanna), Levente Molnár* (Count Almaviva), Jennifer Davis** (Countess Almaviva), Serena Malfi* (Cherubino). Conducted by Henrik Nanasi. New production directed by Michael Cavanaugh. October 11 to November 1, 2019.
• Manon Lescaut, Puccini. Lianna Haroutounian (Manon Lescaut), Brian Jagde (Des Grieux), Anthony Clark Evans (Lescaut), Eric Halvorson (Geronte). Conducted by Nicola Luisotti. Production directed by Olivier Tambosi, seen in San Francisco in 2006. November 8 to 26, 2019.
• Hansel and Gretel, Humperdinck. Sasha Cooke (Hansel), Heidi Stober (Gretel), Robert Brubaker (Witch), Michaela Martens (Gertrude), Alfred Walker (Peter). Conducted by Christopher Franklin. Performed in English. Directed and production designed by Antony McDonald. Co-production of San Francisco Opera and Royal Opera, Covent Garden. November 15 to December 7, 2019.
• Ernani, Verdi. Russell Thomas (Ernani), Michelle Bradley (Elvira), Simone Piazzola (Don Carlo), Christian Van Horn (Don Ruy Gomez de Silva). Conducted by James Gaffigan, directed by Jose Maria Condemi. Lyric Opera of Chicago production. June 7 to July 2, 2020.
• Partenope, Handel. Louise Alder (Partenope), Daniela Mack (Rosmira), Franco Fagioli (Arsace), Jakub Jozef Orlinsky (Armindo), Alek Shrader (Emilio), Hadleigh Adams (Ormonte). Conducted by Christopher Moulds. English National Opera and Opera Australia production by Christopher Alden; revival directed by Ray Rallo. Last seen in SF in 2014. June 12-27, 2020.
• The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs, Bates. Edward Parks (Steve Jobs), Sasha Cooke (Laurene Powell Jobs), Garrett Sorenson (Woz), Wei Wu (Kobun Chino Otagawa). Conducted by Michael Christie. Directed by Kevin Newberry. Commissioned by San Francisco Opera, The Santa Fe Opera and Seattle Opera with support from Cal Performances and co-produced with Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. San Francisco Opera premiere. June 20 to July 3, 2020.

Click this for the full SFO press release.

Coming to San Francisco Opera

Apparently Erhard Rom's biography in the Glimmerglass Opera program this year says that he's designing a new Nozze di Figaro for San Francisco Opera. Rom has previously designed productions of Nixon in China, Susannah, and Lucia di Lammermoor that were seen here.

Me, I'll be so very happy to say goodbye to the ugly Zack Brown sets, which are about on par with his Don Carlo sets.

Sills Award to Sierra

Nadine Sierra as Lucia, with Piotr Beczala

Photo by Cory Weaver, SF Opera

I kinda don't get this; I've seen Nadine Sierra a couple of times and thought she was a charming Papagena and a good, but not particularly memorable, Lucia. She dropped out of two other operas where I would have seen her, Carmen (Micaela, "personal reasons") and Manon (title role; "too heavy for me just now"). I skipped her Nozze Countess.

Met Press release:

New York, NY (April 24, 2018) – Soprano Nadine Sierra has been named the winner of the 13^th annual Beverly Sills Artist Award for young singers at the Metropolitan Opera. The $50,000 award, the largest of its kind in the United States, is given to extraordinarily gifted singers between the ages of 25 and 40 who have already appeared in featured solo roles at the Met. The award, given in honor of Beverly Sills, was established in 2006 by an endowment gift from the late Agnes Varis, a managing director on the Met board. In 2009 Sierra became the youngest ever winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and has gone on to make her mark at the Met with memorable performances in Verdi’sRigoletto, and Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro, Idomeneo and Don Giovanni. In the Met’s 2018-19 season, Sierra will reprise the role of Gilda in Rigoletto.

Met General Manger Peter Gelb presented Sierra with the award today, saying: “Nadine is a most deserving recipient. I’m sure that Beverly would have been pleased with our choice.”

The Sills Award was created to help further recipients’ careers, including funding for voice lessons, vocal coaching, language lessons, related travel costs, and other professional assistance. Sills, who passed away in 2007, was well known as a supporter and friend to developing young artists, and this award continues her legacy as an advocate for rising singers. The 29-year-old Sierra is the 13^th recipient of the award, following baritone Nathan Gunn in 2006, mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato in 2007, tenor Matthew Polenzani in 2008, bass John Relyea in 2009, soprano Susanna Phillips in 2010, mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard in 2011, soprano Angela Meade in 2012, tenor Brian Hymel in 2013, tenor Michael Fabiano in 2014, baritone Quinn Kelsey in 2015, soprano Ailyn Pérez in 2016, and mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton in 2017.

Nadine Sierra said: “This award is a true gift to singers because it honors not only a beautiful artist in Beverly Sills, but treasures the legacy she left behind. It's not enough to say that I'm honored to be receiving it, but more that I feel incredibly humbled. Opera can and should belong to anyone who has the pleasure of witnessing its timeless beauty. I believe Ms. Sills, through all of her achievements and generosity of sharing this music with people around the world for many decades, would certainly agree. I'm very thankful to the Metropolitan Opera for selecting me as the recipient of such a meaningful and empowering award.”

Nadine Sierra made her Met debut in 2015 as Gilda in Verdi’s Rigoletto. She followed that with three Mozart roles at the Met: Zerlina in Don Giovanni, her role and Live in HD debuts as Ilia in Idomeneo, and earlier this season, her role debut as Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro. She made her professional debut with Palm Beach Opera while still a teenager, in her home state of Florida. She studied in New York at Mannes College of Music and was an Adler Fellow with San Francisco Opera. She made her debut at San Francisco Opera in 2011 as Juliet/Barbara in the world premiere of Christopher Theofanidis's Heart of a Soldier.  Recent engagements include Gilda in Rigoletto (La Scala, Milan, Chorégies d'Orange, Opéra Bastille, Seattle Opera), Lucia in Lucia di Lammermoor (La Fenice, Venice, San Francisco Opera, Zürich Opera), Zerlina in Le Nozze di Figaro (Paris Opera), Tytania in A Midsummer Night's Dream and Norina in Don Pasquale (Valencia), Musetta in La Bohème, Countess Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro and Pamina in Die Zauberflöte (San Francisco Opera), Flavia Gemmira in Eliogabalo (Paris Opéra) and Nannetta in Falstaff (Staatsoper Berlin). In June she sings the role of Norina in Donizetti's Don Pasquale (Paris Opéra). She is the winner of the Marilyn Horne Foundation Vocal Competition, the 2017 Richard Tucker Award Winner, and has recently signed a record contract with Deutsche Grammophon/Universal.

Semi-Something

Maurizio Bernini will miss two performances of Semiramide at the Met:

Gareth Morrell will replace Maurizio Benini as conductor for performances of Rossini’s Semiramide on Saturday February 24 at 8.00pm and Wednesday February 28^th at 7.30pm, 2018.

British conductor Gareth Morrell made his Met debut in 1999 leading Lucia di Lammermoor. Since then he has conducted performances of Fidelio, Don Giovanni, Aida, La Bohème and Tosca for the Met. He has been on the conducting staff at the Metropolitan Opera since 1996. Other engagements included Tristan und Isolde in Puerto Rico and Carmina Burana with the Taiwan National Symphony Orchestra.

The cast for Semiramide includes Angela Meade in the title role, Elizabeth DeShong as Arsace, Javier Camarena as Idreno, Ildar Abdrazakov as King Assur and Ryan Speedo Green as the High Priest Oroe.

Remaining performances, conducted by Maestro Benini, are on March 3, 6, 10 (matinee), 14 and 17, 2018.

Do I care? Not really!

Metropolitan Opera 2017-18

Once again, shamelessly stealing from Opera Tattler:

September 25- December 16 2017: Norma
September 26- October 28 2017: Les Contes d’Hoffmann
September 27- October 14 2017: Die Zauberflöte
October 2 2017- March 10 2018: La Bohème
October 12 2017- April 5 2018: Turandot
October 26- November 21 2017: The Exterminating Angel
November 2 2017- March 16 2018: Madama Butterfly
November 11- December 2 2017: Thaïs 
November 24- December 2 2017: Verdi's Requiem
November 25- December 9 2017 The Magic Flute 
December 6 2017- January 19 2018: Le Nozze di Figaro 
December 14 2017- January 11 2018: The Merry Widow
December 18 2017- January 6 2018: Hansel and Gretel 
December 31 2017- May 12 2018: Tosca
January 8- February 1 2018: Cavalleria Rusticana & Pagliacci
January 16- February 17 2018: L'Elisir d'Amore
January 22- February 15 2018: Il Trovatore
February 5-27 2018: Parsifal 
February 19- March 17 2018 Semiramide
March 1-23 2018: Elektra 
March 15- April 19 2018: Così fan tutte
March 22- May 10 2018: Lucia di Lammermoor
March 29- April 21 2018: Luisa Miller 
April 12- May 11 2018: Cendrillon
April 23- May 12 2018: Roméo et Juliette

Um....wow. There are 26 operas. With the exception of Thomas Adès's latest, The Exterminating Angel, which has its Met and US premiere, they are all by dead white men. Adès's, of course, is by  a living white man.

His opera is also the only opera written after 1925. Way to go, Met! That's about as safe and dull a season as is possible. If I had 26 operas to schedule, I would take more chances. Yes, there is some excellent casting and there are some great singers (Mattei, Goerke, Vogt, etc.). The Met Orchestra concerts aren't listed above, but MGT will conduct one of them. (That is a surprise; I would expect them all to go to Levine.)

If I lived in NY, I would see Exterminating Angel, Elektra, Parsifal, Semiramide, Cendrillon, and Romeo, largely because I've never seen the last three. Oh, and maybe Thais, ditto.

Pretty Yende Steps in for Damrau

From the Met:

Pretty Yende will sing the role of Elvira in tomorrow evening’s performance of Bellini’s I Puritani, replacing Diana Damrau, who is ill.

Ms. Yende, who has sung Elvira with Zurich Opera, recently starred as Rosina in a Met revival of Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia. She made an unexpected Met debut in 2013 as Countess Adèle in Rossini’s Le Comte Ory and returned in 2014 to sing Pamina in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte. Next month, she will make her Met role debut as Juliette in Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette. Her other recent performances have included the title role in Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor at Paris Opera and Deutsche Oper Berlin; Adina in Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’Amore at the Bavarian State Opera; and Amira in Rossini’s Ciro in Babilonia at the Rossini Opera Festival.

Tomorrow evening’s performance of I Puritani is conducted by Maurizio Benini and also stars Javier Camarena as Arturo, Alexey Markov as Riccardo, and Luca Pisaroni as Giorgio.

What Does Emerging [fill-in-the-blank] Really Mean? And How Long Does It Take to Emerge?

Well, I think I will say: practically nothing, and as long as you need.

This slightly dyspeptic thought stimulated by the fact that "emerging [something]" seems to be the biggest cliche in classical music these days. Practically the only worthwhile thought in composer Kevin Volans' speech is his mention that "emerging composer" is a ridiculous and overly restrictive category, because composers put in that category get attention that drops off as soon as they are seen to have emerged...or reach age 40...and because composer typically get better over time.

Now I've got a press release saying that baritone Lucas Meachem is the Emerging Star of the Year, winner of the 2016 Emerging Stars of the Year Competition. He earned this title through an online poll.

So, um, how is an online poll anything other than a popularity contest? And how do we know that he is THE emerging star of the year, when the poll seems to have been restricted to San Francisco Opera singers supported by the Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Emerging Stars Fund? What exactly are the criteria for appearing in this poll?

Says the press release:

The other artists supported by the fund and featured in this competition were Malin Byström (Jenůfa/title role), Sasha Cooke (Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg/Magdalena), Leah Crocetto (Luisa Miller/title role), Michael Fabiano (Luisa Miller/Rodolfo; Don Carlo/title role), Brian Jagde (Carmen/Don José), Daniela Mack (Il Barbiere di Siviglia/Rosina), Brian Mulligan (Sweeney Todd/title role; Lucia di Lammermoor/Enrico; La Chute de la Maison Usher and Usher House/title roles), Alek Shrader (Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg/David), Nadine Sierra (Lucia di Lammermoor/title role; The Magic Flute/Pamina) and Heidi Stober (Sweeney Todd/Johanna).

Also, you know, Meachem made his first major San Francisco Opera appearances more than a decade ago, appearing in small roles in the 2003-04 season. Online sources suggest that he is 37 years old, which, quite honestly, is typically mid-career. You could also take a look at his OperaBase page to get an idea of the size of his career: it looks pretty darned big to me, with appearances in the recent past and near future at the Met, SFO, LOC,  ROH, LAO, Den Norsk Opera, Dallas Opera, and elsewhere.

Santa Fe Opera 2017 Season

Santa Fe Opera has announced its summer, 2017 season, and it looks very good indeed. I'm cutting everything except operas, cast/crew, and dates:

Die Fledermaus: Johann Strauss Jr.
June 30, July 5, 8, 14, August 1, 7, 14, 19, 26
Sung in English with English dialogue, and Opera Titles in English and Spanish.
A new Santa Fe Opera production. Last performed in 1992.
First performed at Vienna’s Theater an der Wien on April 5, 1874.
Production underwritten by a generous gift from Bob and Ellen Vladem.

Conductor Rory Macdonald
Director Ned Canty
Scenic Designer Allen Moyer
Costume Designer Zack Brown
Lighting Designer Duane Schuler
Chorus Master Susanne Sheston
Gabriel von Eisenstein Kurt Streit+, tenor
Rosalinde, Eisenstein’s wife Devon Guthrie+, soprano
Adele, Rosalinde’s maid Jane Archibald*, soprano
Alfred, a music teacher Dimitri Pittas+, tenor
Dr. Falke, a notary Joshua Hopkins, baritone
Prince Orlofsky Susan Graham, mezzo-soprano
 Paula Murrihy*+, mezzo-soprano
Frosch, a jailer Kevin Burdette, bass
*debut, +former Santa Fe Opera Apprentice

Lucia di Lammermoor: Gaetano Donizetti
July 1, 7, 12, 21, 31, August 5, 8, 12, 16, 24
Sung in Italian with Opera Titles in English and Spanish.
A new Santa Fe Opera production. Last performed in 2001.

Conductor Corrado Rovaris
Director Ron Daniels
Scenic Designer Riccardo Hernandez
Costume Designer Emily Rebholz
Lighting Designer Christopher Akerlind
Video Designer Peter Nigrini
3
Chorus Master Susanne Sheston
Lucia Brenda Rae, soprano
Lord Enrico Ashton, Zachary Nelson+, baritone
 Lucia’s brother
Raimondo Bidebent, Christian Van Horn, bass-baritone
 a Calvinist chaplain
+former Santa Fe Opera Apprentice

The Golden Cockerel: Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
July 15, 19, 28, August 3, 9, 18
Sung in Russian with Opera Titles in English and Spanish.
A co-production with The Dallas Opera. A company premiere.
First performed at Moscow’s Solodovnikove Theatre on October 7, 1909.

Conductor Emmanuel Villaume
Director Paul Curran
Scenic & Costume Designer Gary McCann*
Lighting Desiger Paul Hackenmueller*
Chorus Master Susanne Sheston
Tsar Dodon Eric Owens, bass-baritone
General Polkan Kevin Burdette, bass
Amelfa, a housekeeper Meredith Arwady, contralto
Astrologer Barry Banks, tenor
Tsaritsa Shemakha Venera Gimadieva*, soprano
*debut

The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs: Music by Mason Bates
 Libretto by Mark Campbell
July 22, 26, August 4, 10, 15, 25
Sung in English with Opera Titles in English and Spanish.
A Santa Fe Opera World Premiere production.

Conductor Michael Christie* (July 22, 26, August 4, 10, 15)
 Robert Tweten (August 25)
Director Kevin Newbury
Scenic Designer Victoria “Vita” Tzykun*
Costume Designer Paul Carey*
Lighting Designer Japhy Weideman
Projection Design 59 Productions
Choreographer Sam Pinkleton*
Chorus Master Susanne Sheston
Steve Jobs Edward Parks*, baritone
Laurene Powell Jobs, his wife Sasha Cooke*, mezzo-soprano
Kôbun Chino Otogawa, Wei Wu*, bass
 his spiritual advisor
Woz, his friend Garrett Sorenson+, tenor
 and business partner
*debut

Alcina: George Frideric Handel

July 29, August 2, 11, 17, 23

Sung in Italian with Opera Titles in English and Spanish.

A new Santa Fe Opera production adapted from the 2012 Opera Bordeaux staging. A company premiere.

First performed at London’s Theatre Royal, Covent Garden on April 16,1735.

Conductor Harry Bicket

Director David Alden

Scenic & Costume Designer Gideon Davey

Alcina, a sorceress Elza van den Heever, soprano

Morgana, her sister Anna Christy, soprano

Ruggiero, a knight Paula Murrihy+, mezzo-soprano

Bradamante, Daniela Mack, mezzo-soprano

 Ruggiero’s bethrothed

Oronte, lover of Morgana Alek Shrader, tenor

Melisso, former tutor of Christian Van Horn, bass-baritone

 Ruggiero

+former Santa Fe Opera Apprentice

•further casting and creative team details to be announced

Must find a week when all of these are being done!

The Guys of Lammermoor

San Francisco Opera staged a new production of Donizetti's evergreen Lucia di Lammermoor  this fall. Based on Sir Walter Scott's novel The Bride of Lammermoor, the opera has held the stage continuously since its premiere in 1835. Yes, I expect that there will be a few bicentenary productions twenty years hence.

By then, this production is likely to be dead and buried, just like the skewed-perspective production done in 1999 and the 2007 production that I can't tell you about because I skipped it entirely.

The new production, with design and projections by Erhard Rom, directed by Michael Cavanagh, looks good. It's based on a memorial of some kind in Italy, and so there's a lot of fake marble on stage, both inside the castle and outside in the gardens. It's so orderly that there is not much sense of nature or of Scottish wilderness, both of which I think are, or should be, part of the environment of this particular opera, so the looks sort of go for nothing.

Study

Photo by Cory Weaver, SF Opera

Also, Enrico's study looks like it was designed by Le Corbusier or Mies van der Rohe. This is evidently because of a time shift from early 19th c. Scotland to the middle of the 20th c.

It's true that there is a rocky Scottish coast visible through the picture window. Presumably they've got a really really good boiler installed in the Ashton manse.

Piotr Beczala (Edgardo Ravenswood) and Brian Mulligan (Enrico Ashton) 

duke it out at the Wolf's Crag.

Photo by Cory Weaver, SF Opera

The big exception is the Wolf's Crag scene, in which Enrico Ashton confronts his political enemy - the man whose estate he has stolen - Edgardo Ravenswood. This is set on a terrace that evidently is floating up in the clouds someplace; it was vertiginous to behold because of the swirling clouds, but still, somehow, it seems perhaps a bit too neat for rural Scotland.

Also, everyone is dressed in...what? Mid-century urban clothes? There were plenty of trench coats, which I thought had left with Pamela Rosenberg were no longer de rigueur in updated productions. There's just one exception, which I'll get to later in this review.

I could not figure out the motivation for the updated production. Is Enrico supposed to be a 20th c. criminal? If so, I couldn't tell; I would have needed a lot more overt violence for this point to get across.

The singing really was very good, with the handsome Polish tenor Piotr Beczala, not heard here for a few years, unveiling a darker and more burnished sound than in his last appearance. Brian Mulligan - basically the star of the fall season, with starring roles in Lucia, Sweeney Todd, and the Poe double bill - sang beautifully as the Bad Guy. So did Nicolas Teste as Raimondo (Lucia's spiritual advisor) and AJ Glueckert as Normanno, Enrico's henchman. Tenor Chong Wang looked natty in plaid as doomed bridegroom Arturo but sounded less comfortable than as Hylas in the summer's Les Troyens. Zanda Sveda was memorable as Lucia's companion Alisa despite having about only about 30 measures to sing.

Still, overall, it wasn't what I'd call a great Lucia. And it's largely because the most memorable singing came from the men who are not the star of this particular show, full stop.

Oh, wait. I seem not to have discussed the star of the show.

So when Diana Damrau's withdrawal was announced, I hit my head against the wall a few times, and I'm sure you did too. The German soprano is a wonderful performer with a great voice, and I had seen her replacement, Nadine Sierra, only once before, as Papagena in The Magic Flute.

Sierra, then an Adler Fellow, was an excellent Papagena and the role seemed an excellent fit, which is why I was a bit surprised when she was announced as the Nozze Countess in the 2014-15 season. It's a role that requires more gravity than your typical mid-20s Papagena has. I had tickets to that revival, but wound up swapping them for a pair of tickets to Troyens that I gave to friends, so I missed Sierra's Countess.

I'd love to tell you that she was a spectacular Lucia, the greatest replacement ever, but I'm afraid I really can't. She was certainly competent, singing the fioriture with a good legato and executing the trills cleanly. She did a good job with Lucia's famous Mad Scene, in tune and beautifully coordinated with principal flutist Julie McKenzie (who got a well-deserved on-stage solo bow at the end of it all) although...well, it was a remarkably polite Mad Scene, especially considering the Grand Guignol crime scene she left behind.

Nadine Sierra as Lucia

Photo by Cory Weaver, SF Opera

Maybe she used up all her verve killing him.

I hear that the bridegroom shown above was a body double, not Chong Wang. Personal to the stage designers and makeup artists: we've all seen a lot of CSI and Law & Order:SVU, and the spatter on the walls just doesn't match the wounds on the corpse!

But the big problem with Sierra was that she just wasn't very exciting or interesting. Her voice is pretty enough but not remarkably so; her singing was good enough but not spectacularly so. And this opera is best when the title character can bring a little spectacle to it....and not just the spectacle provided by a particularly bloody bedchamber.

Oh, and that exception I mentioned above: somehow, Lucia was the only character on stage dressed in 19th c. clothing, except, of course, for the ghosts who, irritatingly enough, kept popping up throughout the opera.

The Second Bride of Lammermoor

©Cory Weaver/San Francisco Opera

Albina Shagimuratova, currently scheduled to appear* as the Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute, will sing the title role in tonight's final performance of San Francisco Opera's Lucia di Lammermoor, replacing Nadine Sierra, who is ill.

* Shagimuratova has missed the first three Flute performances. Presumably she will be singing going forward, since she is well enough for tonight's Lucia.

October is Hell Month

Groan. I can't go to four concerts every week.

SFS dates are the first day of a 3-4 concert run.
All month: SFO, Lucia di Lammermoor, Magic Flute.
Mariinsky is more than one date. I left Twyla Tharp off.

10/3 - Mariinsky
10/4 - Andras Schiff
10/4 -   Phil Baroque: Scarlatti discovery (other dates as well)

10/11 - SFS Chamber Music: Arensky, Martinu, Paulus
10/12 - Pavel Haas Quartet
10/12 - Bloch Lecture I, UCB: Saariaho, etc.
10/14 - Berkeley Symphony, Ravel, Berlioz, Saariaho

10/15 - SFS/Susanna Malkki, Christian Tetzlaff: Prokofiev, Mussorgsky, Shostakovich
10/16 - UCB: Regents’ Lecturer Anssi Karttunen in Composers Colloquium
10/18 - Anonymous 4
10/18 - Cal Bach: Zelenka Mass
10/18 - Paul Jacobs & Christine Brewer, recital, Davies
10/21 - Bloch Lecture II, UCB:  “Making Music, Sharing Music:“ Kaija Saariaho in conversation with conductor Susanna Mälkki, cellist Anssi Karttunen,

10/22 - SFS/Malkki, Trpceski: Chopin, Sibelius, Tiensuu
10/23 - eco ensemble, UCB: Saariaho composer portrait
10/24 - SFCMP, SFJCC: lots more Saariaho
10/25 - Left Coast Chamber Ensemble, Marin County
10/26 - Left Coast Chamber Ensemble
10/28 - Noon concert at UCB: More Saariaho

10/30 - Ades/Cheng concert
10/30 - UCB Symphony: Saariaho, Sibelius, Debussy
10/31 - UCB Symphony: Saariaho, Sibelius, Debussy

ARGH.

Who's Next?

Major cast changes at SF Opera so far:

• Thomas Hampson withdraws from Luisa Miller after deciding that the role of Miller isn't for him.
• Gerald Finley withdraws from Sweeney Todd on account of impending childbirth
• Diana Damrau withdraws from Lucia di Lammermoor on account of exhaustion
• Phillipe Sly withdrew from The Magic Flute on account of family needs
• Nadine Sierra, stepping into Lucia for Damrau, withdraws from several performances of The Magic Flute (Okay, good on her for jumping in.)

This makes me....nervous...to contemplate the cast of Die Meistersinger, which is full of singers new to their roles, including Brandon Jovanovich (Walther), Greer Grimsley (Hans Sachs), Rachel Willis-Sorensen (Eva), Sasha Cooke (Magdalena), and Alek Shrader (David). Uh, that is most of the leads.

Confirmed

Damrau out, Sierra in:

San Francisco Opera today announced cast changes for the Company’s new production of Gaetano Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor, presented October 8–28, 2015, and for Mozart’s The Magic Flute, presented October 20–November 20, at the War Memorial Opera House. German soprano Diana Damrau has withdrawn from the Lucia production, in order to remain on vocal rest for the next six weeks. American soprano Nadine Sierra—who performed Lucia last spring at the Zurich Opera House to critical acclaim and, more recently, as the Countess in San Francisco Opera’s The Marriage of Figaro—will now sing the title role for all seven performances.

"I am deeply sorry for all of those who had looked forward to my performances in San Francisco and I ask for your understanding,” said Damrau in a written statement. “After 15 years of performing with little or no time for substantial rest and recuperation, along with the demands that come with a beautiful, young family, my body has reached the point when it is now ‘insisting’ that I pause for a short time. … The issue is in no way vocal, but one of exhaustion that the doctors tell me ten weeks of rest will without question fix.” Damrau is currently taking her rest here in San Francisco with her family and husband, French bass-baritone Nicolas Testé who will be making his San Francisco Opera debut in the role of Raimondo.

Sierra’s appearance in Lucia affects casting in the Company’s revival production of The Magic Flute; she was initially to have sung the role of Pamina. Soprano Sarah Shafer, recently seen as Rosetta in the world premiere of Marco Tutino’s opera Two Women, will now take on the first four performances (October 20, 25, 27 and 29) and Sierra will sing the remaining six performances as originally scheduled (November 4, 8, 12, 14, 17 and 20).

Wishing Ms. Damrau a swift recovery from the exhaustion!

Damrau Out of SFO Lucia?

San Francisco Classical Voice has a story saying that it looks as though Nadine Sierra may be taking over Diana Damrau's run of performances in the title role of Lucia di Lammermoor. Damn, I say, if this is true. Damrau's a great singer and I was looking forward to seeing her.

The Spouse of Lammermoor

Salvatore Cordella, who stood in for Joseph Calleja in Acts 2 and 3 of Lucia the other day at the Met, will sing Edgardo again in tonight's performance. Says the Met:

Tonight's performance of Lucia di Lammermoor, conducted by Maurizio Benini, also stars Albina Shagimuratova in the title role, Luca Salsi as Enrico, and Alastair Miles as Raimondo.

But see this afternoon's update!